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Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M

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Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M

#11

Post by threezero »

MR4D wrote: post #10

Thank god. Their website is so bad that it’s almost like they are trying not to sells books. Last week I had a gift card for BN that I needed to use, and tried to buy an audiobook on bn.com from my iPhone. It was damn near impossible to find anything and I still don’t know how to search for an audiobook. Such a shame, as I used to love their physical stores. Hopefully these folks will do a much better job.

And their SEO is terrible. You have to go to google and add the domain to any query to find a book on their site.

Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M

#12

Post by garren »

mtgx wrote: post #3

In other words, B&N is to be dismantled and sold for parts in the near future.

At the very least, maybe it turns back into a bookstore rather than a cafe/book/music/board game/toy store. It's the board games, comic/anime figurines, and kitchy junk (e.g., polaroid cameras, overpriced drawing and writing kits, etc.) that make me feel like they've kind of lost their way.

Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M

#13

Post by Donald »

vikramkr wrote: post #2

I really hope I don't read any articles a few years from now about Barnes and Noble filing for bankruptcy after being crushed by the immense debt of a leveraged buyout...

> after being crushed by the immense debt of a leveraged buyout

$680M is in the realm of a cash transaction for a hedge fund, and indeed, if you look at their SEC filing (below), this is an all-cash transaction. Expect aggressive cost-cutting from Elliot (BNs around me seem to be well staffed with lots of people standing around with little to do - so layoffs likely in the future) but the store itself should be able to survive.

http://investors.barnesandnobleinc.com/static-files/e605e233...

Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M

#15

Post by legitster »

So, before we doom and gloom about B&N, it's important to remember that independent bookstores are doing great! https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/why-independent-bookstores-haved-...

So why is Barnes and Nobles struggling? A couple of important points:

Their inventory and footprint IS HUGE. Large inventory with low turnover is a margin-killer in retail. And I doubt they make much money off the books in their shelves - real money is in the piled selection and special coffee table books and new features and what have you.

Wide inventory is their advantage over the smaller stores, but it comes at a huge cost and forces them to keep prices high. Remember, in retail, selection costs money consumers have to pay. Smaller stores can get away with a random selection and stacking books all over the place (the hunt is part of the experience). If someone can't find a copy of the Republic at B&N, they probably lost a customer.

I suspect they will switch over to a more curated model (like AmazonBooks) - basically only new and select books. Smaller store, less footprint, and less product to buy and eat costs on. And then they can compete on costs more.

Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M

#16

Post by vkou »

garren wrote: post #12
mtgx wrote: post #3

In other words, B&N is to be dismantled and sold for parts in the near future.

At the very least, maybe it turns back into a bookstore rather than a cafe/book/music/board game/toy store. It's the board games, comic/anime figurines, and kitchy junk (e.g., polaroid cameras, overpriced drawing and writing kits, etc.) that make me feel like they've kind of lost their way.

The board games, figurines, and the kitchy, disposable crap is what keeps them in business. The margins on those items are much higher then on books, and they sell faster than any random book on their shelves.

Source: My wife worked at Half-Price Books (Which is doing a bit better than B&N atm) for a few years. It also had multiple shelves of disposable crap, that made them a lot of money.

Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M

#18

Post by Donald »

whalesalad wrote: post #7

TIL Barnes and Noble still exists. I haven't seen one in what feels like a decade.

B&N is surprisingly one of the few private establishments available in the US for the simple pleasure of going in for a nice sit without feeling an obligation to purchase something.

Would be a shame to see them go.

Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M

#19

Post by empath75 »

garren wrote: post #12
mtgx wrote: post #3

In other words, B&N is to be dismantled and sold for parts in the near future.

At the very least, maybe it turns back into a bookstore rather than a cafe/book/music/board game/toy store. It's the board games, comic/anime figurines, and kitchy junk (e.g., polaroid cameras, overpriced drawing and writing kits, etc.) that make me feel like they've kind of lost their way.

They’d be better off if they stopped selling books, profit wise.

Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M

#20

Post by rjohnk »

vkou wrote: post #16
garren wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the very least, maybe it turns back into a bookstore rather than a cafe/book/music/board game/toy store. It's the board games, comic/anime figurines, and kitchy junk (e.g., polaroid cameras, overpriced drawing and writing kits, etc.) that make me feel like they've kind of lost their way.

The board games, figurines, and the kitchy, disposable crap is what keeps them in business. The margins on those items are much higher then on books, and they sell faster than any random book on their shelves. Source: My wife worked at Half-Price Books (Which is doing a bit better than B&N atm) for a few years. It also had multiple shelves of disposable crap, that made them a lot of money.

I was going to say this. The B&N where I live has a large pop culture area where the CD/Music section used to be. Star Wars, Harry Potter, LOTR, Stranger Things dedicated sections with lots of Funko and similar products. Really clean and high quality stuff if your into collecting. I see this as the only way they can survive.
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