Barnes & Noble’s (B&N) purchase of revered independent bookseller Tattered Cover in Denver, Colorado has been approved by bankruptcy court. Under the terms of the $1.83m deal, B&N will buy the four stores keeping the name and most of the staff.
B&N CEO James Daunt told the Denver Post that he understood a level of “skepticism” about the deal, but added “really in truth this is something that Tattered Cover will sort out. We at Barnes & Noble are not going to be running these stores. Tattered Cover is going to be running these stores. They have very good store managers. I think we now have to put them back on their feet and get them all ordering books and assorting their stores properly”.
One unfortunate consequence of the deal is that Tattered Cover will no longer be eligible for membership in the Mountain & Plains Independent Booksellers Association or the American Booksellers Association (MPIBA).
Heather Duncan, MPIBA’s executive director, said the association’s “bylaws and policies are very clear. In order to be a bookstore member of MPIBA, a business needs to be independent and ‘locally owned”.
Similarly, Tattered Cover will no longer be a member of the American Booksellers Association.