In an email to customers, RiverRun Bookstore owner Tom Holbrook said the store has signed a letter of intent, and will soon sign a lease, for a new retail space downtown, just two blocks away from its current location. The move, which Holbrook expects to be finalized by December, will save RiverRun $50,000 a year in costs, while on the financial side, “more than a dozen people have come forward and offered to become part-owners of RiverRun, and dozens more have donated books and money to the cause.” The New England Mobile Book Fair in Needham, MA, which has operated […]
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Anne McCaffrey, the science fiction and fantasy author best known for her “Dragonriders of Pern” novels, died Monday in Wicklow County, Ireland after suffering a stroke. She was 85. The author of nearly 100 novels (including 30 in collaboration with other authors, such as her son Todd) McCaffrey was the first woman to win the Hugo and Nebula awards, while her 1978 novel THE WHITE DRAGON was the first science fiction title by a woman to appear on the New York Times bestseller list. Suvudu obit Greg Galloway has joined the American Booksellers Association as marketing manager and designer. He […]
Upgrade Continues Barnes & Noble’s Stock Boost
Barnes & Noble’s rekindled romance with Wall Street, now entering its tenth trading day, continues apace. Their stock registered resilient gains again yesterday even as the overall market suffered, and it is rising again today, passing the $18 mark in early trading, as another analyst–Gary Balter at Credit Suisse–has upgraded revenue estimates and raised his price target for the stock to $20 a share. Beyond BN’s own guidance that the Nook business will comprise $1.8 billion in the current fiscal year, Credit Suisse projects that segment will grow to $2.25 billion in the following year, and $2.813 billion the year […]
Bookselling: Former Davis-Kidd Store Revived Under New Name; Atlantic Books Shuts Down; and More
Booksellers at Laurelwood opened in Memphis, TN over the weekend in a location formerly occupied by Davis-Kidd, a subsidiary of the now-bankrupt Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Neil van Uum, Joseph-Beth’s owner when the company went into bankruptcy, bought the Davis-Kidd store (but not the name) during a liquidation auction with the help of Laurelwood Shopping Center landlord Tom Prewitt, and invested an additional $500,000 in renovating and reorganizing the space, according to the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. The children’s section is now 50 percent larger, and the store employs 45 staffers. Bartleby’s Books in Wilmington, VT, which had been severely damaged by flooding during […]
Upgrade Boosts Barnes & Noble Again
At yesterday’s presentation at Liberty Media’s annual meeting, Barnes & Noble’s William Lynch basically repeated the market predictions and assessments that he’s been making to anyone who would listen. It was an afternoon upgrade from Stifel Niclaus that sent the company’s stock soaring again in early afternoon trading yesterday. Analyst David Schick is coming to believe the company’s contention that it is turning into a technology company, and he set a price target of $25 a share (or 50 percent above current levels). As we suggested earlier, Rakuten’s valuation of Kobo implies that Barnes & Noble’s Nook business should be […]
Bookselling: New Joseph-Beth Store in Cincinnati; Tattered Cover Adds Self-Publishing Services; and More
A new 20,000-square foot Joseph-Beth store has opened in a former Borders location just outside of Cincinnati, OH, with its grand opening celebration slated for November 19. General manager Craig Sherman told Cincinnati.com the new store will have a “friendlier atmosphere” than its predecessor. “If customers are looking for an engaging, memorable experience, they’re going to find it when they walk in here,” he said. “This is a community bookstore.” The Tattered Cover will use its newly installed Espresso Book Machine for self-publishing services within the Denver, CO community. “We are hoping to use the machine to provide better customer […]