Barnes & Noble reported third quarter sales of $2.175 billion for the period ending January 10. Same-store sales at regular BN outlets were down 5.5 percent compared to a year, and fell 4.7 percent overall, at $1.4 billion. College bookstore sales of $566 million were down 1.3 percent. BN.com sales grew 32 percent to $210 million–and were up 67 percent in the month of January, driven by nook sales. (BN’s quarters no longer align following the integration of the College division, but last year in March store comps were down 7.3 percent–so they are underperforming an already-lowered bar.) During the […]
Bookstores
People and Companies
Agent Mary Ann Naples, co-owner of The Creative Culture, has joined startup OpenSky (www.theopenskyproject.com) as vp of development, representing the voices of authors and brands at the company. Former Scholastic UK managing director (and then briefly chief executive of the Headline publishing group) Kate Wilson is starting a children’s book publisher, Nosy Crow, launching in January 2011. The company is focusing on both traditional printed books as well as books as electronic apps. Ralph Munsen joins Hachette Book Group today as svp, chief information officer. He was most recently vp, technology at Clear Channel..He will lead HBG’s technology group, and […]
BN to Burkle: No
In the least surprising news of the month, the Barnes & Noble board hasunanimously agreed with itself and told investor Ron Burkle they willnot abandon the poison pill that was created specifically to blockBurkle from accumulating too much of the company’s stock. They also write: “The Board also would like to correct a misstatementcontained in your letter regarding the total stock holdings of theRiggio family and other Company insiders. Please be advised that,excluding options that are not votable, Barnes & Noble’s directors,management and other executive officers currently hold approximately 31%of the Company’s outstanding stock.” The real question is whether Burkle […]
Burien Books for Sale
This Seattle bookstore is on the market, following the recent death of owner Virginia Pearce, who ran the store for over 50 years. Her nephew Joe Wisen says, “We are actively trying to sell it and if it doesn’t sell quickly we will have to close it down.” Highline Times
Aletheia Buys Another 2 Million Barnes & Noble Shares
In concert with their friend Ron Burkle’s assault on Barnes & Noble’s board, Aletheia Research disclosed to the SEC their continued purchases of BN stock. Between January 21 and January 29 alone, they added more than 2 million shares, bringing their stake in the company up to 17.44 percent. At today’s share price, which is rising, they are still about $8 million in the red on their investment-to-date of $210 million.
Discussing Ideas to Help Stores Survive
Both formally and informally, booksellers at the ABA’s Winter Institute were talking about, and listening to, ideas for how stores can preserve their essential role during the digital transition and drive revenue from more than sales of printed books. On Wednesday Dan Clancy from Google tried to open the door to brainstorming how Google can help retailers sell ebooks from physical stores. The starting principle is that “when you buy a digital book from a physical store, it needs to be simple.” A sample notion was to ask, what if it’s as simple as taking a digital picture of the […]