Barnes & Noble Education got a lift from news of a modest $15 million investment from sports team retailer Fanatics (and their brick-and-mortar subsidiary that sells hats and other merch, Lids). The investors will receive 2.3 million shares in BNED, bought at the far-above-market price of $6.50 a share. The parties intend to create a “long-term strategic omnichannel merchandising partnership” (the reliance on “omnichannel” to make it sound important is a warning on its own). While BNED has been touting their growing expertise in digital and ecommerce, now they proclaim that Fanatics is the key to “bring[ing] a best-of-breed retail […]