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Is Your Local Barnes & Noble Going to Close Down?
Photo by Plankton 4:20 via the LAist Featured Photos pool
For starters, if your neighborhood Barnes & Noble store is the one at the Westside Pavilion, the short answer is: Yes. That said, the nation's hang-on big box book retailer could end up closing the doors on hundreds of the locations around the country over the next two years.
The chain isn't announcing any big cutbacks, but it has roughly 100 leases due to expire this year - plus another 129 in 2012 and 121 in 2013 - and the company wasn't about to hold onto all of them.
Though the big Borders bankruptcy may have sent brick-and-mortar bookstore shoppers B&N's way (the Borders customer loyalty "rewards" program was transferred to B&N, too), book retailers are feeling an increasing pinch from electronic readers, like the Kindle.
Last year B&N shuttered their Encino and Calabasas locations, as well as stores in other states. It's entirely possible the B&N near you might end up being one of those destined for closure between now and 2013.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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