Owner of Arkansas’s That Bookstore In Blytheville and former ABA board member Mary Gay Shipley, 67, said in an e-mail that she is ready to sell the store after 36 years. “It is now time for change…. It is my sincere hope that someone or some group will come forward and continue TBIB in some fashion. I am not going anywhere and would be happy to help a new owner transform TBIB into their own vision.” Shipley adds, “I believe the next few years will be exciting for independent booksellers who embrace the multiple reading formats and who are located […]
Finance
Corporate News: Quarto Finishes Up On Acquisitions; Colman Getty Acquired
Quarto reported preliminary earnings for the full fiscal year on Tuesday, with sales of $186.1 million up 5.5 percent, helped by “two small acquisitions” during the year, and pre-tax profit of $12.1 million was up 5.2 percent. Digital sales grew fivefold, but still comprise only $2.1 million of sales, or about 1 percent of sales, noted in the release “to satisfy the curiosity of analysts and commentators.” Often mentioned as a potential acquirer of other houses, including the current Sterling Publishing offer, Quarto’s net debt also rose–up 14 percent, to $81.4 million, including the cost of acquiring Cool Springs Press […]
Big Barnes & Noble Options Holder Presses Again for Splitting the Company In Three Parts
Before Barnes & Noble reported third quarter results, investor Michael Glickstein of G Asset Management filed with SEC on Friday to declare a position of more than 5 percent in Barnes & Noble. But in his case, unlike more substantial investors who have filed recently, he owns primarily options to buy just under 3 million shares, exercisable within the next 60 days. (G Asset also owns a little over 41,000 actual shares of Barnes & Noble stock.) That means G Asset’s net investment cost to play this game has been just $1.6 million. Glickstein, 30, has agitated for the board […]
Corporate: F+W Bolsters eCommerce and Crafts; Publishers Win Injunctions Against Piracy Site
Expanding on a joint venture created in the middle of last year, F+W Media has acquired The Martha Pullen Company, an ecommerce provider, event producer, and content company in the sewing and craft category, from Hoffman Media. Ceo David Nussbaum says in the release, “This is an important strategic acquisition for F+W, as we move more directly into the hard goods product fulfillment arena by offering these goods through our ecommerce stores. Now with the addition of a wealth of sewing information, instruction, and materials we can more fully serve the craft enthusiast community…. The acquisition represents our largest ecommerce […]
Fidelity Takes A 10 Percent Stake In Barnes & Noble, Too
Shares of Barnes & Noble’s stock are increasingly being accumulated by a small number of holders, as Fidelity disclosed on Tuesday that their Fidelity OTC Portfolio unit had acquired over 6 million shares in the bookseller, or just under 10 percent of shares outstanding, as of December 31. Following the morning’s news of a 5 percent investment by Dimensional Fund Advisors, the company’s stock rose steadily during the trading day on heavy volume. After starting the day in the red, shares closed up over 9 percent, rising to $14.49. Ironically that brought the stock back up to almost exactly where […]
People, Etc.
At Tor/Forge, Alexis Nixon has been promoted to publicist and Leah Withers moves up to associate publicist. In addition, Cassie Ammerman, most recently publicist, has been named digital marketing manager for the imprint. At Kids Can Press, Yvette Ghione has been promoted to editorial director and Karen Li moves up to senior editor. In addition, Allison MacLachlan has been named assistant, brands & new business. Barnes & Noble romance buyer Jules Herbert will contribute monthly recommendations and point to store promotions and other offers on Random House’s romance website Romance@Random, the site spearheaded by former Borders romance buyer Sue Grimshaw. […]