Better Bad News for Borders Borders’ bad quarter was a little less bad than forecast. Their big loss of $39 million was in line with analysts’ expectations and the company’s own guidance, while sales of $852 million were higher than Wall Street was prepared for. Most importantly, same-store superstore sales (comprising $583 million) actually rose 1.8 percent, rather than falling as projected. In remodeled stores, “the cafe and gifts and stationery categories were the strongest performers.” International sales were $144.6 million, up almost 15 percent, as same-store sales fell 0.3 percent — good in comparison to the other ailing book […]

What Else Can We Say? We know IF I DID IT is going away, but that’s still about all we know. We don’t know how it came about; who owns the underlying rights now; where the money went (and how much); and what happens to Judith and those who are supposed to supervise her. Did Rupert Murdoch and his senior executives actually mean their apology (“We are sorry for any pain this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown-Simpson”)? If so, they will disclose who was paid for the rights to the project and how much, rather […]

Simpson: “Closure, Not Money” Indeed On Friday, Borders Group announced that they will not profit from Harper’s OJ Simpson book, and will donate the net proceeds to a national organization that assists domestic violence. Borders’ Ann Binkley says in the statement that “the book will be available for sale” at all of their stores “because we believe it is the right of customers to decide what to read and what to buy, but we will not discount the title or promote it.” In a survey conducted by AbeBooks of 979 booksellers, 96 percent of the respondents claimed they would not […]

Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Debut Actress Courtney Thorne-Smith’s OUTSIDE IN, a comedic novel that captures the sparkling […]

Today’s Big Buy Perpetually for sale/not for sale academic and professional giant Blackwell Holdings has quietly reached an agreement to sell the company to Wiley for 572 million pounds ($1.08 billion), or a 2.7 multiple of 2005 sales of 210 million pounds. According to the announcement, Wiley already has “irrevocable commitments from the principal shareholders.” Release If You Can Believe It Judith Regan’s bizarre 2,200-word statement should be read in full rather than through newspaper excerpts. The gist, as you probably know, is that she’s publishing the book because her ex-husband abused her. That and: “I made the decision to […]

BN’s Q3 Comparable store sales rose 2 percent at Barnes & Noble in the third quarter, with companywide sales of $1.1 billion, as the company posted a loss of $2.8 million, all in line with previous projections. Superstores comprised $972 million; BN.com sales fell 0.5 percent compared to a year ago, at $96 million, and the nearly non-existent B. Dalton registered $20.5 million. Due to the ongoing investigation of alleged options irregularitis, the company will not file its 10-Q form with the SEC, and it “will not purchase shares under its stock repurchase program until it completes all required filings.” […]