Gizmodo has a fine set of leaked pictures of the forthcoming Barnes & Noble eReader.The main screen is a standard black-and-white e-ink display–but at the bottom is a smaller touch-screen color LCD, to use to show for titles (with color jackets) and for other features like a on-screen keyboard. The LCD is said to be inactive while reading, so it probably won’t drain the battery too much. The device is equipped for wireless connections with a to-be-named service provider. The report says that BN will be selling the company’s own books (from Sterling) at a “deep discount.” As for the […]
Bookstores
Bookselling: Vroman's to Buy Book Soup, and More
Vroman’s of Pasadena has entered into an agreement to buy West Hollywood’s Book Soup from the heirs of the late Glenn Goldman. Vroman’s president Allison Hill told the LAT “Glenn and I had talked about it…and we’ve been in conversations with the seller since January.” Hill was the manager of Book Soup for six years. “There is an authenticity to what Book Soup is that we intend on honoring. We would be crazy to do this otherwise.” LAT But in a second LAT piece, there is hand-wringing over change (rather than celebration that the store will persist. Book Soup general […]
More on That BN eReader
The Wall Street Journal filed more details on Barnes & Noble’s own ereading device that we told you about previously, which “could begin selling the device as soon as next month.” (The launch has already slid from the information we were originally provided.) Then Gizmodo followed with a “leak” from “someone who claims to work for BN developing mobile apps” that says the reader could run Google’s Android as its operating system. Meanwhile, the in the UK the Telegraph is trying to figure out who is partnering with Amazon to provide wireless delivery to Kindle, since AT&T doesn’t work there–and […]
Barnes & Noble's New Earnings Schedule Has Bookstore Comps Down 4.1 Percent
Barnes & Noble announced results for their new fiscal quarter, aligned to dovetail with the just-acquired BN College. Reporting sales for the past nine weeks of the new quarter, same-store sales at BN fell 4.1 percent at $665 million, while results at BN.com rose 8 percent to $91 million. The retailer said that for the full fiscal 2010 quarter, they expect that comp-store sales decline to range between 1 percent and 3 percent–meaning they see sales improving from here. Of course those forward-looking comparisons are set against a lower bar–October is when book sales started to plunge last year as […]
Bookselling: Co-Op Signs Lease for Old Schwartz Space But Still Needs Funds
The Open Book co-operative has signed a one-year lease to take over a former Harry Schwartz bookstore space–but a spokesman says “we’re about halfway there” in raising the money needed to actually open a store. They say they have raised about $50,000, and are hoping news of the lease encourage more supporters to come forward. The group is hoping to be able to open a store in the 10,000-square-foot space by November.
Bookselling: Village Books to Add Espresso and Symtio Cards
Washington’s Village Books told customers recently that next month the store will have an Espresso book machine and will start selling Symtio cards for downloadable ebooks and audio books. Co-owner Chuck Robinson says, “There are obviously changes rapidly taking place in our industry, and instead of standing on the sidelines and waiting to see what will happen, we’ve decided to jump right in.” Wisely, he recognizes that much of the demand for the Espresso will come from customers wanting help with self-publishing. And “he personally wants to print books on local history that he’s enjoyed but have been out of […]