The stock market in general rose this afternoon after the Federal Reserve said it was “prepared” to act further to support recovery, but Barnes & Noble’s stock outperformed other gainers with a 9.25 percent rise on the day with the contentious annual meeting less than a week away. (By comparison, the Dow Jones Average rose over 7 percent, but the broader S&P 500 actually declined almost 3 percent on the day.) Borders stock also rode the updraft, gaining almost 14.5 percent for the day on unusually high volume of 3 million shares (though at just over a dollar a share, […]
Bookstores
Your Proxy Fight Daily Report
Today Barnes & Noble chairman Len Riggio added to shareholders’ mailboxes by apologizing for all the mail–and blaming Ron Burkle. “For the past six weeks your mailboxes have been full of letters urging you to vote your shares in favor of the company, or in favor of Mr. Burkle of Yucaipa. They are referred to as ‘fight letters,’ and they often live up to the promise. For myself and the good people of Barnes & Noble it is a fight we did not ask for, and do not deserve.” The company also points to their endorsement by another small proxy […]
Biggest Proxy Firm Supports Burkle Nominees to Barnes & Noble Board
Perhaps the most-watched proxy advisory Institutional Shareholder Services broke ranks this morning with two other firms in supporting Ron Burkle’s slate of alternate directors for Barnes & Noble. The NYT says the move “could be crucial” since “many large institutional investors are required to vote their shares along the lines of ISS’s recommendations.” In their summary, ISS says “based on BKS’ deteriorating operating performance, poor shareholder return, less-than-enthusiastic analyst recommendations, inadequate transparency into and disclosure on a very large related-party transaction which appears to have exacerbated performance problems [i.e. the purchase of Barnes & Noble College], and significant concerns about […]
Proxy Fight Today
Bank of America/Merrill Lynch downgraded their outlook on Barnes & Noble shares from neutral to underperform “on uncertainty surrounding the company’s digital initiatives and a deteriorating balance sheet,” setting a price target of $13 a share. A WSJ piece of a number of ongoing shareholder battles suggests that in the pending Barnes & Noble vote, “a recommendation by influential proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. will be crucial, and both sides have been lobbying the firm in recent weeks.”WSJ
Bookselling: Two Closings, One Opening
Borders is closing their store in Miami-area Aventura next month, even though “locals will tell you [it] always seems crowded” according to the local NBC station. “A Borders spokesperson told us on the phone from the company’s headquarters in Michigan that the Aventura store just wasn’t making enough money to justify keeping it open, especially with rents for such a large space as high as they are for a prime location on Biscayne Boulevard.” Owner of the area’s Books and Books Mitchell Kaplan remarks, “It’s a very precarious marketplace right now for all bookstores and for publishers as well.” He […]
Tiny Omniovore Books Will Select Books for Williams Sonoma
The NYT carries a piece on niche bookstores in the San Francisco Bay area, with a special focus on Omnivore Books, opened in late 2008 and focused on food books. Notably, owner Celia Sacks is now selecting new titles that Williams Sonoma will feature nationwide under an Omnivore Recommends banners, and 30 of the cookware stores will also sell vintage cookbooks selected by Sacks. (Used books are said to “most help her bottom line,” selling for three times what they cost.) She is also creating a cookbook scrapbook that Ten Speed Press will publish next year. And the store “always […]