Barnes and Noble will “evaluate strategic alternatives”

Barnes&Noble is a bookseller with a history. It opened in 1873 and grew to the biggest network of the book shops. Moreover it pioneered the online sales. But Barnes&Noble was unable to beat Amazon despite it has preceded it in many ways. Now the company is conducting “a formal review process to evaluate strategic alternatives” which translates from the corporate slang to plain English as “is looking to sell itself”.

“This decision follows expressions of interest from multiple parties in making an offer to acquire the Company, including from the Company’s Chairman, Leonard Riggio.”

The offline sales are plunging as supermarkets hosting the book stores are declining and reading becomes more and more online activity. The idea with cafe was not exactly successful. The sales are falling 5.4% from the last fiscal year, the report show.

Barnes&Noble failed not because of the irrelevant management. It failed because Amazon, its prime competitor grew so ubiquitous that it left no room for the B&N.