At Barnes & Noble, investor Ron Burkle filed a new statement with the SEC, reiterating their previous objections to the bookseller’s poison pill and recommending that BN “improve its corporate governance practices by adding three to four new, independent directors to the company’s board of directors.” Barbara’s Bookstore will close its Oak Park, IL location this summer after 20 years there. Yesterday a Cook County judge ruled against the bookseller in a longrunning dispute with their landlord over rent and taxes. Owner Donald Barliant “declined to say where the business would move or if it would remain in Oak Park.”Tribune […]
Bookstores
Bookselling: Store Moves
Durham, NC-area “landmark” for the African-American community, the Know Book Store and Restaurant has closed. Owner Bruce Bridges still hopes to find another space in which to reopen.Durham News Cambridge, MA-children’s bookstore Barefoot Books is moving from Porter Square to a new location in Concord.
First Borders
Call it Psychic April Fool’s week: this is one of those weeks when the two major stories are clear from the beginning, but either narrative is subject to plenty of surprises. First up is Borders, which faces an April 1 deadline on their $42.5 million loan from major shareholder Pershing Square. The company would normally report fourth quarter and full-year earnings on or about that same day, but has yet to announce a release date. Presumably results–and the accompanying SEC filing–won’t be announced until the company can speak authoritatively to its forward plans. While most accounts are focused on the […]
Waterstone's Unveils New Corporate Strategy
HMV executives are meeting with City analysts today to unveil some new strategies for Waterstone’s to improve business, which HMV hopes will improve the bookstore chain’s net profit margin in the short term to 2-3% and in the medium term to 3-4%. The big changes Waterstone’s has in mind include a new e-book store to launch by May, a repositioning of range, a greater focus on local promotions, increasing non-book sales from 6% to 10% by 2013, and making the most of Borders transfer sales opportunities, as £60m of sales from Borders up for grabs in locations overlapping with Waterstone’s. […]
President Obama Catapults Prairie Lights Bookstore into Health Care Spotlight
Iowa City independent bookstore Prairie Lights was vaulted into the national spotlight yesterday after President Barack Obama’s speech about health care singled the bookstore out as an example of a small business that would benefit from tax credits that would help them cover the cost of insurance for their employees. “This is a small business that’s been offering coverage to their full-time employees for the last twenty years,” Obama said about the 32-year-old store. “Last year their premiums went up 35%, which made it a lot harder for them to offer the same coverage. Starting now, small business owners like…the […]
Both BN CEO Lynch and Retail CEO Klipper Get Same Compensation Package: 900K Base Salary, 500K Shares
Two filings with the SEC offer a look both at what CEO William Lynch will earn as Barnes & Noble’s new CEO and how Mitchell Klipper’s promotion gives him a much greater role in the company. Lynch’s three-year-deal with B&N will bring in an annual base pay of $900,000 (with eligibility for bonuses with a target of “not less than” 150% of base pay.) Lynch will also receive 500,000 shares of B&N stock and have options to buy another 500,000 shares. Klipper, however, will get virtually the same compensation package, underscoring that B&N views his new position as CEO of […]