With its stock trading persistently low, Barnes & Noble’s board of directors has effectively given in to the pressure brought by activist shareholder Ron Burkle and larger market forces following their recent earnings disappointment in announcing that it “intends to evaluate strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company, in order to increase stockholder value.” The board concluded that the company’s shares–battered in the past month in particular–“are now significantly undervalued.” The plain-English translation is that the company has agreed to put itself in play conceptually, and on Wall Street the line between concept and reality here is infinitesimally […]
Bookstores
From Barnes & Noble, Student-Focused Announcements
With colleges about to open for the fall semester, Barnes & Noble officially launched their online textbook rental business, competing with Chegg and others in this fast-growing sector. At the same time, they have added a free “study platform and software solution that gives college students the freedom and flexibility to access eTextbooks, other digital content and organizational tools to learn more efficiently, collaboratively and across content sources and formats.” It works on standard PCs and Mac computers. Called Nook Study, information about the app and downloads are available from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookstudy/.Release
BN Adds Nook Boutiques, and Sues to Block More Patent Claims; Copia Promises Different Line of Unreleased Devices
Barnes & Noble is pressing the strategic advantage that they say their physical stores bring to sales of Nook and will roll-out 1,000-square-foot demonstration Nook boutiques across their stores, starting this summer. The NYT says the new boutiques will be adjacent to their in-store cafe’s. The company says they will take space away from their music departments to make room for the Nook nooks, and ceo William Lynch “said that the number of books on display in Barnes & Noble stores would not decrease.”Release Separately, Bloomberg reports that BN “filed two suits yesterday to try to fend off demands by […]
People and Announcements
Lisa Richards has joined Macmillan as National Account Manager, representing all of the Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group’s imprints to retail accounts serviced by Levy, including Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and Target. She has previously worked for TOKYOPOP, Viz Media, and Prima Publishing, and reports to Director of Children’s Sales Mark von Bargen. After 18 years with Hodder and Headline, James Horobin will join Simon & Schuster UK in the newly created role of Group Sales, Marketing and Brand Development Director. He reports to Executive Director Kerr MacRae. At Headline, Aslan Byrne becomes UK and International Sales Director with immediate effect, reporting […]
Borders Will Sell Paperchase for $31 Million in Debt-Reduction Measure
Borders has agreed to sell its Paperchase stationery unit for $31 million to Primary Capital, a UK-based private equity firm. Under the agreement, set to close next week, Borders will continue to purchase and sell Paperchase products in its stores, and use $25 million of the proceeds to reduce the amount outstanding under its $90 million term loan credit facility, as specified under the terms of the loan agreement reached this past April. The deal comes just a month after Borders laid off an unspecified number of Paperchase staff, its third round of job cuts in 2010, and six years […]
Waterstone’s to Freeze All Staff Pay
On the heels of another dismal quarterly report, Waterstone’s has confirmed that staff pay will be frozen this year. “No pay awards are being made across HMV Group this year as we continue to contain our costs,” a spokesperson to The Bookseller, revealing little more about the reasons for the across-the-board cost cuts. The move comes just a day after the bookstore chain announced it would open a movie theater in its flagship (and very large) Piccadilly branch after it signed an agreement with Curzon Artificial Eye.The Bookseller