Riggio Wants to Buy Barnes & Noble (Minus the Nook)

Leonard Riggio

Leonard Riggio (Barnes & Noble chairman of the board and 30% owner) made an interesting filing with the SEC this morning.  Mr. Riggio has announced to the B&N board that he intends to purchase all of the company's retail assets - minus the Nook.  And, because this is probably the chain's best chance of being around for the long haul, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the man can pull this one off.

This is the key bit from this morning's SEC filing:

On February 25, 2013, Mr. Riggio notified the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) he plans to propose to purchase all of the assets of the retail business of the Company. The retail business would include, among other things, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Inc. and barnesandnoble.com; and would exclude NOOK Media LLC (comprising the digital and College businesses). Mr. Riggio plans to make the proposal in order to facilitate the Company’s evaluation of its previously announced review of strategic options for the separation of its investment in NOOK Media LLC. 

Maybe, just maybe, common sense will prevail and brick and mortar bookstores will not go the way of record stores.  Remember those?