A hearing has been scheduled for March 15 on Borders‘ request that the judge overseeing bankruptcy proceedings take more time to decide what the company should do about outstanding lease agreements. Debtors are typically allowed 120 days under the bankruptcy code, but can ask for a 90-day extension for a total of 210 days. Borders, however, has asked to have until January 12, 2012 to deal with leases. Freep REDGroup Retail will close 38 of its 260 bookstores in Australia and New Zealand as part of its recently filed bankruptcy agreement. Of those stores, 37 were Angus & Robertson shops […]
Bookstores
Bookselling: Waterstone’s Sales Talk; Foyles on the Move; Nontraditional Outlets; and More
Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut, who has increased his stake in Waterstone’s to more than 6 percent over the past few weeks, is now reportedly in talks with the company to buy the chain outright in a joint bid with founder Tim Waterstone. Mamut has hired Credit Suisse to assist in the potential bid. ThisIsMoney.co.uk Foyles will move its flagship space from its current home on 113-119 Charing Cross Road, where it has been since 1906, to a new store down the street sometime in 2013. The nearly 75,000 square foot space, almost double the present location, was bought by Foyle […]
Four Publishers On Borders Creditors Committee; Real Estate Manager Expects Additional Stores to be Closed
The official committee of unsecured Borders creditors was formed yesterday, comprising representatives from Penguin, HarperCollins, Random House and Perseus, along with Sony Music, GGP, and Simon Property Group. Separately, Chain Store Age has an interesting interview with Andy Graiser, co-president of DJM Realty, which is marketing the leases on the stores that Borders is liquidating. He says they have been “getting interest from all categories of retailers,” adding “Borders competitors aren’t in the mix yet, but I’m sure they’ll be there.” Graiser believes that Borders will indeed exercise its option to close some additional stores beyond the 200 that are […]
Bookselling: Second Store for Mysterious Galaxy, and 25 Newly Opened ABA Stores in 2010
San Diego-based independent mystery & science fiction bookstore Mysterious Galaxy will open a second location in Redondo Beach later this summer, with grand opening events in October. The new 4,000 square-foot store grew out of a popular book-and-author series “Ladies, Lunch, and Literacy” hosted in the area by co-owner Terry Gilman.BTW In related news, the ABA rounds up twenty-five new member stores that opened in 2010, which the association sees as a sign that “growing support for locally owned businesses, along with continued support for bricks-and-mortar stores.”
Bookselling and Beyond: Reporting Borders’ Sales?, Creditors Meeting, and Waterstone’s Cuts
Recently we reported on the significant year-over-year drop in print book sales for the first six sales weeks of 2011 through outlets measured by Nielsen Bookscan. So naturally we were wondering how people should expect the discounted book sales at the 200 stores that Borders intends to close to be reflected in the Bookscan data as those stores are liquidated. Borders told us the handling of data for those 200 stores was up to Nielsen; they, in turn, indicate that they will continue to report sales from all Borders Group stores as usual, including those that are in the process […]
BN Plans Brand Refresh, Will Spend $40M on Marketing Efforts
Here’s one way Barnes & Noble plans to invest some of the cash flow freed up by suspending its dividend: AdAge reports the company has hired Interpublic’s Mullen to “refresh its brand with an effort that includes an estimated $40 million investment in marketing and a new look for stores.” That amount is expected to double BN’s previous marketing spend. Mullen replaces Omnicom Group’s Merkley & Partners.AdAge Following yesterday’s pre-market announcements, Barnes & Noble’s shares fell more than 14 percent in full-day trading, declining 2.67 to finish at $15.94. The stock is falling further today, down another 4.5 percent so […]