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Cost Cutting Raises Profits at Books-A-Million
Sales fell 2% for the second quarter ended July 31 at Books-A-Million due to what executives called a weak book lineup that led to a 3.2% drop in comparable store sales. Despite the sales drop, net income for the second quarter rose to $1.9 million up from $1.5 million in the comparable period last year. Executives attributed the improvement in profits to cost-cutting measures that included a "significant decrease" in store salaries and health insurance.
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GABBS in Boston Highlights Benefits of Bargain Books
Attendance may have been down 10% from last year's high of 268 buyers, but spirit was up for the Great American Bargain Book Show, which returned to Boston for the second year in a row on August 19 and 20. First-time bargain book buyers like Jan Hall of Partners Village Store and Kitchen in Westport, Mass., attended the show looking to make bargain work.
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BookMasters Goes Vertical
Over the past 38 years, the BookMasters Group in Ashland, Ohio, has grown from a print broker into a vertically integrated provider of printing, content, and distribution services. As recently as three years ago it was one of the best-kept secrets in fulfillment and distribution, even though it began offering both in 1988.
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B&N Nominates Two for Its Board of Directors
In the latest move at Barnes & Noble in advance of the national book retailer's September 28 annual meeting, David G. Golden and Dr. David A. Wilson have been nominated to stand for election to B&N's board of directors. The two will replace Michael Del Guidice and Lawrence Zilavy, who have decided not to stand for reelection. Golden is executive v-p and partner at Revolution LLC, an investment company, and Wilson is president and CEO of the Graduate Management Admission Council, a nonprofit education association.
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ABC and ABA to Present Merger Plan in September
It's been over a year and a half since the Association of Booksellers for Children first began exploring the possibility of merging with the American Booksellers Association as one way of securing its future. Now that possibility is moving a step closer, with the release of a merger plan early next month, and a vote in October.
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Chains, Fiction, Paperback Ruled in 2009
Although online retailers have been making deep inroads in the bookselling market, the major bookstore chains sold more units than their e-tailing competitors last year, according to Bowker's newly released "2009 Book Consumer Annual Review: U.S. Demographics & Buying Behaviors."
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Barnes & Noble, Burkle Talks Collapse
Negotiations between Barnes & Noble and its largest shareholder, Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies, ended this afternoon without reaching an agreement that would end the dispute between the two parties. "Barnes & Noble and Yucaipa were unable to conclude an agreement on mutually acceptable terms," B&N said in a briefly worded statement.
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Layoffs at Borders Headquarters
Approximately one week after laying off 100 people in its Tennessee warehouse, Borders has eliminated an unspecified number of employees at the company headquarters. A spokesperson confirmed that layoffs took place, but declined to say how many or in what departments.
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Twin Cities Honor Odegard
The literati in the Twin Cities came out in full force Tuesday evening and gathered at the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul to honor and help one of their own, local literary legend Dan Odegard. Odegard was diagnosed in January with multiple myeloma (plasma cancer). The tribute and fundraiser, called "Our Friend Dan," included readings by local memoirist Patricia Hampl and poet Deborah Keenan. All proceeds from the event will go to cover medical costs for Odegard.
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Rosen Named 'PW' Bookselling Editor
Judith Rosen, PW's longtime New England correspondent, has been named the magazine's new bookselling editor beginning September 1. Rosen will continue to cover the New England region from her Cambridge office, but will now expand her reporting on all areas of bookselling.
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Kobo Investment Ups Loss at Indigo Despite Sales Gain
Despite a C$10.7 million increase in revenues, Indigo Books & Music posted a C$5.3 million loss in its first quarter, which ended July 3, up from C$2.3 million last year. CEO Heather Reisman attributed the bigger loss to the company's heavy investment in the e-bookstore Kobo.
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B&N College Expands Textbook Rental Program
Barnes & Noble College Booksellers has expanded its multi-channel textbook rental program to hundreds of colleges and universities. B&N piloted its textbook rental program in January and a survey found that more than 90% of students said they would rent books from their campus bookstore again.
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Riggio in the Barnes & Noble Driver's Seat
The founder and chairman of the bookstore chain has never liked to operate under the spotlight that running a public company brings, one reason that over the years rumors have periodically surfaced that Riggio was considering taking B&N private.
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Used Books: On the Up and Up
Even before the recession hit, used-book sales were on the rise. During the past decade, they grew so rapidly that by April 2002 the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers attacked Amazon for placing new books at risk.
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B&N Annual Meeting Could Be Lively Affair
The Barnes & Noble annual meeting has been a quiet affair in recent years, but that was going to change when shareholder Ron Burkle said he was considering proposing an alternative slate to run for the board of directors, and interest in the meeting, set for September 28, has been heightened by the distinct possibility that Burkle and B&N chairman Len Riggio could be competing for ownership of the retailer. B&N's recently released proxy statement, while giving the date for the meeting, does not list a time or place; traditionally the meeting has been held at B&N's New York headquarters.
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Booksellers Urged to Participate in Banned Books Week
There were 460 incidents of people attempting to ban books from libraries last year, according to the American Library Association, including a recent one where a group of parents succeeded in banning an anthology of writings by gay youth from the library of a New Jersey high school and from the local public library. With the 28th annual Banned Book Weeks coming up September 25 to October 2, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression is asking booksellers to join the hundreds of bookstores and libraries that already have publicized such incidents.
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Davis-Kidd to Feature Marty Stuart Display
Baker & Taylor has partnered with Nashville's Davis-Kidd Booksellers, Sugar Hill Records, and country music star Marty Stuart on a merchandise display dubbed Marty Stuart's The Art of Country Music. The display, which B&T is calling "a store within Davis-Kidd’s Nashville outlet," will feature a section called Marty Selects, which will highlight CDs, DVDs, and books selected by Stuart.
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More Borders Layoffs and More Rumors
Borders is laying off 100 workers at its Tennessee distribution center following an earlier cut of 120 jobs.
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B&N Considering Sale; Riggio May Make Bid
The Barnes & Noble board announced Tuesday afternoon following the close of the stock market that it will consider all alternatives for the bookstore chain, including the sale of the company. The board said it considers B&N's stock price to be significantly undervalued. B&N chairman Len Riggio said he is considering taking part in an investor group to buy the company.
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Ill-Conceived Odyssey
Just about everyone in publishing has weighed in on the Wylie Agency's decision to seize backlist e-book rights, jump into the publishing game, and sign an exclusive deal to sell e-titles only through Amazon. In the retail space, neither Barnes & Noble nor Borders would comment on the sales policy of Odyssey Editions, but independent booksellers are unhappy about the development and angered at Andrew Wylie.
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