As workers at a number of individual Barnes & Noble stores vote to unionize — and as the chain itself embarks on a significant expansion of locations this year — employees tell the Guardian that ceo James Daunt has “embarked upon a months-long campaign to dissuade employees from voting in favor” of unionizing. They also “accuse the chain’s management of dragging their heels during contract negotiations.” Jessica Sepple, a bookseller at the flagship New York City store in Union Square, says: “He would come in and essentially try to talk us out of unionizing. The big argument against us unionizing […]
Tattered Cover Tells Bankruptcy Court It’s In Sale Discussions
The board of the owner of the Tattered Cover Book Store, currently in bankruptcy reorganization, announced a decision that “positioning Tattered Cover for sale to a qualified, committed new owner is in the best long-term interests of the company, current investors, employees, suppliers and Colorado’s literary community.” The word “positioning” is quite intentional. They say “the company is in discussions with individuals and businesses across the US” but the press release and a motion with the court to delay their next bankruptcy hearing is designed to elicit “additional interest from other potential buyers as word spreads that Colorado’s iconic independent […]
Redesigned Search, Better Matches
Today we are live with the last major piece of the Publishers Marketplace redesign we began rolling out 10 months ago: A new look for our sitewide search engine, and therefore the search results from all of our different databases. The development team has worked hard on improving the results for mobile devices in particular. (We have updated the guidance/tips on how to use site search as well.) Separately, we have pushed an update to our AI-powered Agent Matcher, too. Filters let you adjust matches to agents that we know are open (or closed) to queries; and agents by experience […]
Rabe to Exit Bertelsmann In 2026
Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe will move on from his job when his contract expires in 2026. He told FAZ, “My contract runs until the end of 2026. My plan is to then move on to other tasks.” It will be “the right time for new impulses,” Rabe said. Thereafter, “I would like to be free.” He noted, “I can only imagine taking on one or two entrepreneurial roles, but more as a supporter and advisor.” Members of the company’s controlling owner the Mohn family have been rising quickly in Bertelsmann’s management ranks. Carsten Coesfeld joined the company’s supervisory board in […]
Simon & Schuster’s Last Public Result
There is a small addition to Simon & Schuster’s known results before going private late last year, following Paramount Global’s full-year earnings filing on Wednesday. For 30 days of October, Paramount indicates, S&S had sales of $101 million, and operating income of $18 million. That puts their publicly-released results for 10 months at sales of $958 million and operating income of $227 million. For the first three full quarters of the year, sales had been running just $6 million below their record year in 2022. For all of 2022, sales had reached $1.177 billion, up 18.5 percent, and operating income hit […]
Lakeside to Close Menasha Plant, Lay Off All 339 Employees, Will Close Two More Plants By Year-End
Lakeside Book Company indicated in a WARN notice to the state of Wisconsin that it will “permanently close its print production facility” in Menasha, WI, “due to changing market conditions.” As a result they will terminate all 339 employees at the plant, starting June 7 and ending June 21, when it will close. “Each employee impacted will receive a written 60-day notice of position elimination and will be paid all earned wages and agreed upon benefits at the time of their termination.” That work force was already reduced in 2023 through both voluntary and mandatory layoffs. General counsel and chief […]