Barnes & Noble finally has a chief executive officer again, though nothing has actually changed at the company. Mike Huseby, who has been acting as the top executive since William Lynch was dismissed last July, has officially been promoted to companywide ceo. (When Lynch left, Huseby was promoted to ceo of the Nook Media unit and president of B&N Inc. Barnes & Noble Retail ceo Mitchell Klipper, who has been reporting to chairman Len Riggio, will now report to Huseby, along with BN College ceo Max Roberts. Riggio says of Huseby in the announcement, “Although a relative newcomer to the […]
Bookstores
BN Closes One-Time “Flagship” On Lower Fifth; Powell’s Remodels
Barnes & Noble closed their store at 18th Street and Fifth Avenue on Monday, spokesperson Mary Ellen Keating told Gothamist, following up on an answering machine message saying the store was permanently closed. A sign on the door tells visitors, “Thank you for your patronage over the years.” The former “flagship” store — across the street from the company’s headquarters — it was the only BN retail location in business when Len Riggio purchased the company in 1971, though by the company’s account it “had fallen into decline.” A few years thereafter, it was proclaimed “the world’s largest bookstore,” offering over […]
People, Etc.
Novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard, 90, “who is said to have sparked a love of literature in her stepson Martin Amis,” has died at home following a short illness. Martin, son of her third husband Kingsley Amis, called her “the most interesting woman writer of her generation.” Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, age 70, “accidentally fell at his home in Washington State Wednesday evening and fractured his first vertebrae.” His book DUTY: Memoirs of a Secretary at War publishes January 14, and “he will be promoting [it] wearing a neck brace.” Byliner editor at larger Will Blythe “was fired the […]
January Books of the Month; February Indie Next Picks
Amazon agrees that THE INVENTION OF WINGS by Sue Monk Kidd, already featured by Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 and the No. 1 Indie Next January pick, is the book of the month for January. The retailer’s full list of choices also features: The Kept, James Scott Andrew’s Brain, E. L. Doctorow Windfall, McKenzie Funk On Such a Full Sea, Chang-Rae Lee The Wind Is Not a River, Brian Payton Radiance of Tomorrow, Ishmael Beah Before I Burn, Gaute Heivol and Don Bartlett Ping-Pong Diplomacy, Nicholas Griffin Apple Tree Yard, Louise Doughty Hollow City, Ransom Riggs Separately, the Costco Pennie’s Pick for […]
Bookselling: New Owners (Again) for That Bookstore in Blytheville; Main Street Books to Close; and More
That Bookstore in Blytheville has changed hands for the second time in just over a year. The Blytheville Courier reports that Chris Crawley and Yolanda Harrison acquired the store from Grant Hill, who bought it from original owner Mary Gay Shipley. Crawley and Harrison had begun discussions with Shipley — whom Crawley described as an “old friend” — even before Hill assumed ownership, then re-approached Hill once it was clear he was looking to sell. The new owners will officially take over the Blytheville, AK store in January with a grand re-opening. Main Street Books in St. Charles, MO will […]
Shareholder Sues Barnes & Noble Over Earnings Restatement and SEC Investigation
The SEC’s two investigations into accounting issues at Barnes & Noble have provoked at least one shareholder lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court on Wednesday. In his complaint, David Shaev accuses the bookseller’s board and several of its executives of breaching fiduciary duties and an abuse of control. “Barnes & Noble has operated with deficient and inadequate financial reporting and inventory management systems since at least 2001,” Shaev said in his complaint. “These systems do not adhere to industrywide best practices and company internal audits have repeatedly shown them to be unreliable and subject to manipulation.” Later he […]