Community Corner

Report: Barnes & Noble Chairman Seeks To Buy Retail Stores

Leonard Riggio has made a bid to buy the store's retail assets, including the Ellicott City location.

Barnes & Noble Inc. Chairman Leonard Riggio is seeking to buy the bookselling giant's retail assets, CNN Money reported.

Should the bid be approved, the sale would include the Ellicott City location in the Long Gate Shopping Center.

According to the report, the bookstores have struggled as the popularity of e-readers increases. Holiday sales at the company's bookstores and websites dropped nearly 11 percent last year, according to the report.

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Barnes & Noble said it has put together an independent committee to review the proposal and to oversee any negotiations, The LA Times reported.

The company in January said it would close some of its retail stores over the next 10 years, though a spokeswoman told the Baltimore Business Journal in November it planned to maintain a “strong Baltimore presence,” the publication reported.

Find out what's happening in Ellicott Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The potential sale wouldn't include the division that oversees the Nook reader, according to The LA Times.

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