Breaking news: Mass firing at B&N headquarters
In a move that was expected but made suddenly overnight, Barnes & Noble laid off (previously known as “fired”) 100 people yesterday, or, as you prefer, eliminated 100 “positions” (formerly known as “people”), citing the 5.2% drop in sales during the holiday period (see this earlier MobyLIves report). A very brief and unattributed New York Times report (Hello, Motoko?) says CEO Steve Riggio claims “this was the first time in the company’s history that it had cut jobs.” A Shelf Awareness report (citing a Wall Street Journal report unavailable to non-subscribers) says Riggio explained in a statement that “The business climate in which we are operating is unprecedented, and therefore, the reduction in expenses is inevitable.” Accordingly, “B&N will take an after-tax charge of $2.5 million for the layoffs,” says the report. It also adds that at least B&N treated outgoing employees more generously than most: “an enhanced severance plan” will include “healthcare benefits for the next 12 months, outplacement counseling and transition seminars.”
Unreported so far except right here at MobyLives: Among those let go were executives at B&N’s publishing imprint, Sterling Publishing, including Philip Turner, (formerly of Carrol & Graf and pioneering indie Thunder’s Mouth Press), who’d been running Sterling imprint the Union Square Press.
This is sad. Borders is in danger of being delisted from the stock exchange, and B&N is doing cutbacks. It feels like karma since these two had a hand in destroying all the independent bookstores.
In a past life I worked for Borders for 4 years. Loved the job, hated the pay. Can’t say I’ll feel bad if both chains go under. Maybe then the local stores can make a comeback or Amazon will become the single source for media.
christopher….
Gee, I look at Barnes and Noble and come away with a vision that is 180 degrees from that of Christopher Jorgenson. I see the growth of the superstore as having allowed publishers and authors to stay in business by bringing books to millions of readers who had previously never set foot in the traditional, often unintentionally intimidating and stuffy, neighborhood bookstore. That the B&N and Borders superstore is challenged by the Amazon internet experience and ultimately even Ebooks, shows the book business to be surprisingly dyanamic.
Its OK to mourn the old neighborhood bookstore and I do too, but that model was simply unsupportable and only served a small part of the readers out there.
Well, I’d certainly feel bad if both chains went under. Happily, I don’t think that’s likely to happen (although I’m a tad less sure about my friends at Borders.) Chains, indies and online retailers all serve a different segment of the reading public. I don’t see why people feel the need to lionize or demonize any of them. I’m a writer..I love them all.
It’s always a drag when people lose their jobs..in fact one of the people at B&N is a friend of a friend, (and two at RH, and one at Sterling, etc.) but belt-tightening is going on everywhere. It’s unrealistic to think that our business is going to somehow be exempt because what we do is, dare I say it, creative.
Look folks, all these layoffs in the publishing world as the chains suffer retailers’ woes is almost too easy to understand. In the last ten years, publishing has gone from a production industry to a retail-supply industry. In short, publishers got “Wal-marted.” They produced more books, spent more money, and gave more support to retailers (as required, in co-op and print runs) than ever before. Not surprisingly, their cash flow took more creative accounting than ever before to continue publishing. That cash flow has diminished, since fewer real customers (bookstores) exist. The industry that was once considered “recession proof,” fell prey to massive retailers that not only stock books, but own warehouses, large buying staffs, and considerable real estate. When the retailers can’t pay their bills, or continue to pay them late (or with massive returns) the result is industry chaos, layoffs, and such. Follow the money. There isn’t any right now. Go buy a book.