AfterDawn: News

Barnes & Noble now up for sale

Barnes & Noble has said this week, somewhat surprisingly, that it plans to put itself up for sale after suffering large losses in the battle for leader in the digital books market.

After the news, shares of the company jumped as high as 27 percent, finishing the day up 19 percent.



Founder and largest shareholder Leonard Riggio said he would consider being part of an investment group that could purchase the company.

The news appears to signal that the company is in desperate need of strong decisions that may not be so easy as a public company.

Says Forrester analyst James McQuivey: "They might feel they want to buy the company back now and take it public later and reap the windfall. But there aren't a lot of investors who will be that certain about the probable outcome of that bet."

The company has now formed a "special committee of four independent directors to consider all options for increasing shareholder value."

While the company remains the top brick-and-mortar book store in the world, it has faced increasing pressure from Amazon and Wal-Mart.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 4 Aug 2010 19:33

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• 8 comments

• nintenut

  The last good bookstore chain... I try to go at least once a month. I hope they stay as grand as they've always been despite digital sales.
  I'll always prefer owning the physical object whether it be books, movies, music or games. You can call me paranoid, but I hate having to rely on the companies to ensure I continue to own the things I pay for.
  

  
  

  4.8.2010 23:21 #1

• KillerBug

  It is rather sad...I won't miss blockbuster, but I will miss Borders and Barnes and Noble. Where else can you get a double moca while buying a book? (Other than every coffee house in the USA if you have a kindle)

  5.8.2010 01:02 #2

• Mysttic

  Holding a natural book is a good thing, I got a respectable collection myself; however, I also see a need for ebooks going into the future as less paper being used the better for the environment.
  
  I agree with peoples arguments about the rights to owning a book on digital format with worries of having to re-purchase that entitlement if anything goes wrong. I hate that too, but its about damn time we also got into a full paperless environment.
  
  People underestimate too much the value of one tree, and tho I not in the habit of preaching "Save the environment, save the trees!" we do kind of have a responsibility to ourselves to live on the best means possible.
  
  I would say tho, the number one reason to go ebooks is the cost of paperback or hardcover books. Each year publishers raise it an insane amount, and being that i live in Canada, some books can become double the costs of what it is in the US, this goes for even comic books. It scares consumers off an already high price tag set for US consumers, so ebooks gives us a choice to enjoy something fresh aside from going to use bookstores or paying for cross border shipping which can get expensive and sometimes not even get your product thanks to tighter security laws created since 911...
  
  Over all will they be missed, certainly; but by enough to matter, obviously not if they intend to sell.

  5.8.2010 02:47 #3

• KillerBug

  I too fear Kindle and iBooks type books, where the company that sold it can remove your access to the book, or possibly even make alterations to parts of the book that they do not like.
  
  However, I know kindle books can be converted to drm-free PDF quickly and easily, so this fear will not stop me from buying a kindle book, as I would consider a PDF to be at least a trustworthy as a paperback (I can't backup the paperback remotely in case of fire, flood, etc). The only thing that stops my from buying Kindle books is the price. Often, I can get 2-3 paperbacks for the price of one Kindle book...sometimes I can get 20 paperbacks for the price of one Kindle book if I happen upon a garage sale. Oh, and it only takes about 10 minutes to download a hundred books through torrents...for free.

  5.8.2010 04:15 #4

• Mysttic

  Quote:Oh, and it only takes about 10 minutes to download a hundred books through torrents...for free Torrents, we know nothing about torrents. Shh.. What he meant your honor was alternative sources for much better added value content.

  5.8.2010 10:37 #5

• DXR88

  why bother saving the trees, they'll all be cut down soon enough endless open fields filled with condo's and scrappers. Man will kill itself, not with nukes or weapons but with over population. at the current rate of population increase we only have about 100-150 more years until all resources on this planet are depleted.
  
  while we await certain doom, id much rather read a paper back book and Barnes and Nobles is the leader in that department.
  

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  5.8.2010 17:08 #6

• KillerBug

  LOL...I guess I might as well just flush my used motor oil down the toilet since there is nothing we can do about anything.
  
  ...Or I could just pour in on the beach...everyone would think it was BP's fault.

  5.8.2010 23:04 #7

• s_c47

  So sad.
  
  :(
  

  Someone told me once that theres a right and wrong, and that punishment would come to those
  who dare to cross the line.
  But it must not be true for jerk-offs like you.
  Maybe it takes longer to catch a total a__hole.

  19.8.2010 23:34 #8