Barnes and Noble CEO chief executive Mitchell Klipper publicly announced that his company will close a number of stores in the next ten years. Currently B&N operates 689 bookshops in the US and also 674 college stores. The company intends on trimming the fat and down scaling to 450 retail locations.
Mitcell recently talked to the Wall Street Journal and commented, “You have to adjust your overhead, and get smart with smart systems. Is it what it used to be when you were opening 80 stores a year and dropping stores everywhere? Probably not. It’s different. But every business evolves.”
This move comes at a time when the bookstore chain faces an uncertain future. Barnes and Noble experienced a 10% decrease in sales in November and December 2012. The company has expanded its Nook division into the UK and plans on opening up seven different international markets by the end of the year. Although Nook sales are on the decline, Pearson and Microsoft both heavily invested in Nook Digital in the last few months.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
