B&N For Sale?

[Nathan Bransford]

Barnes & Noble(BKS) stock is soaring, after management announced that it is considering the sale of the company.

The book retailer, **which has a $700 million market value**, said its board will consider strategic alternatives for the company, which include a possible sale of the chain. "The board came to this decision based on the price of Barnes & Noble shares in the marketplace, which the board believes are now significantly undervalued," Barnes & Noble said in a statement.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10826084 ... mpany.html

The big question is a) will they sell and b) who they sell to. Investor Ron Burkle has been trying to buy more of the company for some time but had been thwarted. We'll see if this means that he will assume a bigger stake.

Interesting times.

[steve]

Confirmed. They have put themselves up for sale.

I hope some hippies buy it and they start dealing in used books and make every store like Powell's, but better.

Allow smoking, and put a bar in each one.

[Mira]

This seems sort of sad to me. I have fond memories of B&N. But even if I had enough money...would I buy B&N now? I'm not sure.

[Down the well]

Wouldn't it be ironic if the e-book phenomenon did in the big box stores only to open up a niche market for the independents to flourish in again? Someone is going to have to supply me with my paper books, after all. Even if I have to go black-market.

I hope some hippies buy it and they start dealing in used books and make every store like Powell's, but better.

Allow smoking, and put a bar in each one.

Yeah, except for the smoking part. It would make the books smell like my aunt Tilda.

[J. T. SHEA]

I remember when B & N were the BAD guys. And Steve, you forgot the pole-dancers.

[artzicarol]

Aw, just color me nostalgic or something, but reputation or no (squeezing out the Mom and Pop local bookstores, I assume), I just HATE to see bookstores go under. Any of 'em. It mean...it's books! It's like a really expensive library, and is so fun to see so many spines and words and writers' souls all in one place. I will be curious to see what happens.

Gawk, and yet look at my OWN buying habits--where do I shop? Certainly not Barnes & Noble, but let me plead a good excuse, cuz I live in southern Oregon and there is NOTHING down here unless I want to drive to Eugene (1 hour north). Anyway...I confess--I shop at Amazon.com. The books are CHEAPER, and I'm more of a library type anyway. Plus hey, it gets delivered right to yer door! That's service!

[Mira]

I've decided I'm going to buy B&N. I know it's risky, but hey, life is short. I only have $22.50, so I'm trying to figure out how to drive the stock values down. If anyone has any advice about how to do that, let me know.

Once it's mine, I'm going to make some changes. I don't know what they are yet, but they will be BIG changes, and will NOT involve pole-dancing or smoking. My B&N will be classy. I'm thinking about a string quartet in every store, and coffee and treats served by butlers. While people read, they will have the option of a shoulder or foot massage. Not both, though. That's an important detail. That's all I've got so far, but I'm thinking it looks good.

[J. T. SHEA]

Mira, I'll match your $22.50. Then we use the $45 to manipulate the stock, following the proven techniques of Warren Buffet and George Soros. I project total success before the weekend.

String quartets? Butlers? Fine, but couldn't the string quartets accompany really classy pole dancers with really classy bump and grind music? And the massages would not have to be limited to shoulders and feet, would they? Depends what the customer is reading, of course. But all done in the best possible taste!

Smoking would only be allowed at the bar. And only tobacco.

[Mira]

Ooooo. A partner! AWESOME.

Okay, well, J. T., since we're partners now, I guess we can reach some compromises. I agree to the classy pole dancing, but only if the dancers are male and have no shirts on. Men should never wear shirts. Shirts on men are totally unneccessary. Hey! Maybe the dancers can be the butlers. They'll serve the customers their scones and then leap on the pole and fling themselves around to Mozart. This could work.

What other types of massages are there other than shoulders and feet? I'm sorry, you lost me.

No, I hope we don't allow smoking! It's yucky. But to make it up to you, we could put in a taco bar. And add some strobe lights. Tasteful ones.

Oh, wait. We can't have strobe lights. People are trying to read. Candlelight then. With little fireflies fluttering around. Maybe we can train the fireflys to flutter around the pole-dancing butlers. That would be pretty.