Stacy Lellos returns to Scholastic, as svp and general manager overseeing Klutz, reporting to Ellie Berger. Lellos has been vp of marketing at Toys R Us since 2013, prior to which she held a variety of publishing and marketing positions at Scholastic since 2000. Director of marketing and publicity at Soho Press Paul Oliver is launching Syndicate Books this fall as a sideline, focused on out-of-print mysteries and crime fiction. Soho will distribute his line (and they are distributed by Random House), and he aims to publish 5 to 10 titles a year, starting with Ted Lewis’s Get Carter (originally called Jack’s Return […]
Bookstores
Gowda Sells Remaining Books-A-Million Stake
Late Friday Books-A-Million reported to the SEC that it agreed to repurchase the remaining 304,000 common stock shares held by Harsha Gowda at $2.15 a share a day after buying back 655,596 shares for the same per share price. Despite reducing the company’s float by about 6.5 percent, BAMM shares have declined, trading between $2.02 and $2.07 a share. Gowda, who runs BlueShore Global Equity Fund, told us: “I wish Books-a-Million management the best and I see them managing the decline in physical book retail successfully. My sale was primarily to pursue other investments for my Fund.”
Books-A-Million Buys Back Shares From Investor Gowda
Books-A-Million noted in a filing with the SEC on Friday that it has agreed to buy back 655,596 of common stock held by investor Harsha Gowda at a price of $2.15 a share. The company is paying a 3 cent discount off of the trading price from Tuesday though shares opened today at below $2.00. The bookseller’s stock has been very lightly traded recently, with daily volume of under 10,000 shares trading hands. Gowda, who runs BlueShore Global Equity Fund out of Florida (and, originally, New Jersey), first bought a stake in BAMM in December 2011, when he acquired more than […]
Johansen Tops July Indie Next
Erika Johansen’s The Queen of the Tearling is the No. 1 pick on the July Indie Next list. The rest of the recommended titles are listed below. As always, click through for the full bookseller comments. Landline, by Rainbow Rowell One Plus One, by Jojo Moyes That Night, by Chevy Stevens Last Night at the Blue Angel, by Rebecca Rotert The Quick, by Lauren Owen Flying Shoes, by Lisa Howorth The Appetites of Girls, by Pamela Moses Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands, by Chris Bohjalian The Glass Kitchen, by Linda Francis Lee Dry Bones in the Valley, by Tom Bouman Dollbaby, […]
Bookselling: BN Books Clinton; Changing Hands Opens Phoenix Store; Jeff Kinney To Open Massachusetts Store; and More
In the slow announcements of Hillary Clinton’s Trickle Tour for Hard Choices, Barnes & Noble indicates that their Union Square store in New York City will be the site of her first public appearance on publication day, June 10. Secretary Clinton will sign books beginning at 11, and BN will start distributing wristbands to customers at 8 in the morning. Clinton will also visit their store at The Grove in Los Angeles on June 19. Last Friday Changing Hands opened its Phoenix branch, a 17,227-square foot space that also includes the First Draft bar, the store’s first coffee, wine and […]
Judge Temporarily Blocks Hastings Merger, Schedules Hearing On Shareholder Suit
A Texas US District Court has granted a temporary restraining order “restricting” the proposed merger between retailer Hastings and companies controlled by National Entertainment Collectibles Association owner Joel Weinshanker. The court has scheduled a June 12 hearing on a shareholder lawsuit alleging that the purchase price is “insufficient consideration” and charged that the officers and directors of Hastings “breached their respective fiduciary duties in the course of negotiating and approving” the merger. The buyout offer is for $3 a share, but the plaintiffs indicated earlier they believe the company may be worth $5 a share or more. If the $21.4 million buyout is […]