The timing of this one is just really odd..
Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS), the largest U.S. specialty bookseller, said on Tuesday the chief executive of its online business resigned
Barnes & Noble said Marie J. Toulantis’s duties have been assumed by E-Commerce vice president Tom Burke and Kevin Frain, its chief financial officer. The bookseller said Toulantis will remain with the company as a consultant.
Now, this comes just a week after its rival, Borders (BGP) online results became public and BKS said it would not be able to finance a deal for Borders.
The graphs on the previous post show Borders online traffic and conversions surging since going live in June through July 26. One must assume this trend has continued and that Borders gains are coming at the expense of Barnes and Noble, not so much Amazon (AMZN).
Here is the chart:
Borders did a great job on the site and it is being marketed to Rewards members brilliantly. It’s current conversion rate of 5% is up from 2.5% when it was part of amazon and now just behind Barnes & Noble’s 5.9% after only 8 weeks (as of 7/26).
Borders is scheduled to report next week, the 28th. I have a feeling, and I hope the analysts on the call ask a ton of questions about the online results, investors will be happy.
Disclosure (“none” means no position):Long BGP, none
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2 replies on “Did Borders.com Results Lead To Barnes & Noble Chief Exit?”
1) What are the numbers from Amazon? Have they fluctuated any since Borders became independent?
2) Borders has only been independent since June. If there is pressure from above, it would come after a longer period, one which would include the holiday season. B&N is smart and conservative, and reacts cautiously.
3) Reading the actual B&N press release, (http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/press_releases/2008_aug_19_marie_toulantis.html) she has spent eleven years at B&N, and before that, twenty-five years in the banking industry. Since she is remaining as a consultant (why would she be kept if her performance was unsatisfactory?), I suspect she is becoming semi-retired.
Torsten,
i think if you loom back further, the #’s have been about flat at 1.2m.
i think the borders spike since going live may have been the final straw so to speak
it is just speculation but the timing is odd..