Barnes and Noble is poised to branch outside of the USA for the first time and enter the United Kingdom. The original launch window was October 15h, but is being pushed back until October 29th. B&N has informed new partners John Lewis, Foyles, Blackwell’s, Argos, Waitrose, and Sainsbury’s about the launch date change.
When Barnes and Noble informed its new retail partners that the company was not yet ready to fully launch in the UK, the company representatives did not cite any specific reasons. Industry analysts have speculated that the online website to sell ebooks was not yet ready and that there were bugs in the system that needed to be addressed.
A spokesperson for B&N said: “Nook Simple Touch and Nook Simple Touch GlowLight will be available in the UK beginning in late October, in plenty of time for the Christmas shopping season. Barnes & Noble’s award-winning E Ink products will be available in leading retailers as well as www.nook.co.uk.”
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.
