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Even more dodgy: Dick Smith was promoting gift cards through December with a "bonus 10% value"[1]. No problem -- except in receivership, gift cards rank as unse
by amatix 11y ago
Even more dodgy: Dick Smith was promoting gift cards through December with a "bonus 10% value"[1]. No problem -- except in receivership, gift cards rank as unsecured creditors and already aren't being honoured (even though the stores are still operating atm). Management must have known that the banks were days away from pulling the plug yet worked to sucker the public into giving them further credit...
Never buy store gift cards for non-trivial amounts!
[1] https://twitter.com/ForagerFunds/status/684196897343471616 https://twitter.com/ForagerFunds/status/684196897343471616 & https://twitter.com/ForagerFunds/status/684197213556191232 https://twitter.com/ForagerFunds/status/684197213556191232
- Someone1234 11y agoThat's a legit concern about Barnes & Noble right now. But with B&N not only gift cards, but their entire digital business (Nook). If anyone received a B&N gift card for christmas, my advice is to spend it soon, and spend it on physical goods -- not digital. Because when the hammer falls your digital "purchases" are not going to be protected.
- DannoHung 11y agoThanks for the warning. Going to make sure I liberate all my Nook ebooks tonight.
- hullo 11y agoBarnes & Noble is in no danger of going out of business. Even when Borders went kaput there was a long warning, and that was a very differently run kind of business (although eerily on point for this topic, as it was run into the ground by PE).
- Someone1234 11y agoIt lost money in four of the last five years. Ebook sales are declining, and they've closed stores. They've also been making a bunch of bad decisions, like investing massively into 3D printing which hasn't paid off, and doubling down on Nook again and again. Coloring books did pay off a little for them, I admit, but at this point it is more a question of "when" B&N will go bankrupt not "if."
- roymurdock 11y agoOne thing they do have is a stranglehold on the university bookstore market. Judging by p. 6 of the 2014 10k [1] the number of Regular Stores has fallen from 720 in 2010 to 661 in 2014. Conversely the number of College Stores has grown from 637 to 700, overtaking the number of non-college outlets. They're still losing money on college stores somehow (baffles me when students are forced to buy multiple $200 textbooks twice a year), but they lose less on their college segment than their regular store segment. [1] http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/documents/bn_annual_report_2014.pdf http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/documents/bn_annual_report_...
- wlesieutre 11y agoI'd guess they pay substantial piles of money to the universities in exchange for those favored book-gouging positions.
- te 11y agoBarnes & Noble, Inc. no longer owns the university bookstores, now a separate company (though they may still be shareholders, I haven't checked): https://finance.yahoo.com/news/barnes-noble-completes-spin-off-133000770.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/barnes-noble-completes-spin-o...
- hullo 11y agoBN hasn't invested in 3D printing. There is one model of cheap 3D printer sold in stores, which is of course not actually produced by BN. Next time you're in ask how many they're holding in inventory, and you'll find it's not many. NOOK is indeed a money pit, but the expense is rapidly decreasing, not increasing, a fact that can easily be checked as they talk about it every quarter.
- mkj 11y agoTrading while insolvent is illegal (in Australia). Though I suppose they can blame their banks.