Didn't that make them the last brick and mortar bookshop standing?
Not quite.
In spite of the initial glow of victory that sent stock prices higher, B&N is still in the midst of finding a buyer. The book business, even for a big box vendor, is not all that rosy.
Barnes & Noble stock has been sinking since those early, heady days. No matter that their competition is further reduced. There is no entity out there with deep pockets to be picked. There is no flurry of interest in ownership, and to stockholders, that doesn't bode well. Hence the decline in price.
Some say that new blood doesn't want to mingle with the likes of Leonard Riggio, majority shareholder and survivor of a bruising battle for control. Smart money looks at the competition and sees dark clouds on the B&N horizon.
A big competitor is still out there, still going strong, and doesn't look likely to shrink any time soon. If anything, e-books are growing, and Amazon has been at the forefront of e-book sales.
The expensive-to-maintain-bookshops are often serving as display cases, where readers can peruse the merchandise and then go home and order it at Amazon.com.
How much can B&N cut into such sales with their e-reader and the ability to download a purchase right there in the store? Possibly not enough to keep all the lights on. In which case, stock ownership becomes a risky proposition, what with the demise of Borders ringing loudly in investors's ears.
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