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Category Archives: Booksellers

Booksellers

Bricks & Mortar Blues | Borders Says Najafi Bids $215.1 Million for Stores and Debt – Businessweek

July 1, 2011 – 1:07 pm

When you add the payment and the liability assumption, Borders actually fetched an OFFER of just under $440 million and that’s not for the whole group. The store closure program combined with the stores Najafi does not wish to acquire means that there’s a bunch of stores not included in the purchase. I wonder where this will end price-wise, is anyone likely to trump that bid?

Borders Group Inc., the bankrupt bookstore chain, said a Najafi Cos. unit bid $215.1 million for its stores and would assume $220 million of liabilities to kick off an auction to test for higher bids.

The agreement is subject to bankruptcy-court approval, Borders said in a statement. Any stores that aren’t included in the sale to Najafi’s Direct Brands unit will be acquired by Hilco Merchant Resources LLC and Gordon Brothers Group LLC and closed, the statement said.

via Borders Says Najafi Bids $215.1 Million for Stores and Debt – Businessweek.

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Booksellers Retail

Bricks & Mortar Blues | Profit up at Waterstones despite sales dip | The Bookseller

June 30, 2011 – 6:26 pm

It’s not all bad news for the retail trade, or maybe the cost management efforts have finally started to hit home in some places:

Waterstone’s increased profit by £6.7m last year as like-for-like sales fell by 3.8%, according to financial results released today.
The HMV Group announced in its financial report that in the 52 weeks to 30th April 2011, Waterstone’s profit grew from £2.8m to £9.5m. During that time however, total sales for the high street bookseller dropped by £14.4m to £499.2m and like-for-like sales fell by 3.8%. In the same time period, sales at the HMV Group as a whole dropped from £2.02bn to £1.87bn and like-for-like sales plummeted by 11%. After tax and the disposal costs, HMV Group made a loss of £121.7m, an improvement on the £152.8m loss last year.
Profit up at Waterstones despite sales dip | The Bookseller.

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Booksellers

Bricks & Mortar Blues | Whitcoulls, Borders sold to Norman family

May 26, 2011 – 10:16 am

With another chain headed for life in the arms of a wealthy suitor, you have to wonder if perhaps private (and dynastic) ownership is a good thing for bookshops.

I’ve been thinking about that for some time, thinking especially about the horrible pain that will have to be administered to bookstores and their workers if chains are to survive.

I’m not sure I know the answer yet:

The Norman family, owners of the Farmers department stores and a raft of Australasian jewellery stores, bought the 57 Whitcoulls and five Borders shops from administrator Ferrier Hodgson for a confidential sum.

David Norman told BusinessDay the company would almost certainly honour all existing vouchers and gift cards at full face value once the deal is complete.

He also confirmed that customers would not have to spend a similar amount to redeem their vouchers, which caused an enormous customer backlash shortly after the Whitcoulls, Borders and Bennetts bookstores were put into voluntary administration by their previous owners REDgroup Retail.

via Whitcoulls, Borders sold to Norman family | Stuff.co.nz.

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Booksellers

Bricks & Mortar Blues | The High Street Is Crumbling – 04/04/2011

April 4, 2011 – 9:37 am

Decent and quick overview of the retail situation on the high street by Motley Fool:

Overall, however, I think there is a fundamental, longer term negative trend taking place here.I remember considering HMV as a value stock late last year. At the time it was at 45p. If I recall correctly it was on a price/earnings ratio of about 4 and had a dividend yield in double figures: surely it was just too cheap?But this value play has failed the test of time — as it happened, earnings since then have fallen, the dividend has been slashed, and the share price is now 15p. In short, HMV is a classic value trap. Every time investors think the company looks cheap, it gets cheaper.

via The High Street Is Crumbling – 04/04/2011.

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Booksellers

Bricks & Mortar Blues | As Borders Closes Bookshops, Rival Barnes & Noble Survives – TIME

March 8, 2011 – 4:00 pm

I wonder when most people will realise that B&N is literally killing itself to boost the ebook business. It’s a sensible decision and I’m sure the physical division will persist in a much reduced form for some time to come, but for all of that, B&N is killing itself to survive.

“Barnes & Noble is just a better-run bookstore. They have better locations, their stores are brighter and it’s better stocked,” says Bill Kavaler, a senior analyst at brokerage firm Oscar Gruss & Son. “And while there’s some discomfort with Barnes & Noble’s management, you can’t say they’re not trying to run a good book chain.”

But the question is how long Barnes & Noble can stay ahead of the gradual shift from print to digital. Barnes & Noble still has 705 bookstores in the U.S., and those locations are less profitable than they used to be, though that drop seems to be slowing. Worse, its online operation continues to lose money. Overall, Barnes & Noble’s profits in its most recent quarter, which ended in January, fell 25% from a year earlier to $60.6 million. In order to stem the losses, Barnes & Noble’s executives decided recently to stop paying stockholders a dividend and invest the money in its online and e-books division to boost growth.

via As Borders Closes Bookshops, Rival Barnes & Noble Survives – TIME.

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