Michaels Stores, the arts-and-crafts retailer with more than 1,000
stores that sell a significant amount of related books, is being
bought by a private equity group consisting of Bain Capital and
Blackstone Group, for $6 billion. The company had announced in March
that it was exploring "strategic alternatives"; the purchase price was
30% higher than the market value of the company when it made the
announcement. Recently private equity groups have focused on buying retail companies, and Michaels reportedly
stood out because of its lack of debt and heavy cash flow, which could
help pay for the acquisition.
Michaels's chairman Charles J. Wyly Jr., said in a statement quoted by the
New York Times,
"This transaction delivers outstanding value for all Michaels Stores'
shareholders and represents a powerful endorsement of our company's
strategy, performance, and business prospects."
Michaels Stores also operates Aaron Brothers stores; Star Decorators
Wholesale Warehouse; Recollections, a scrapbook supply store; and
Artistree, which manufactures some products for Michaels and Aaron
Brothers.
---
Sadly Jim Baen, the publisher of Baen Books who suffered a severe stroke several weeks ago, died on June 28. He was 62.
As noted on the company's
Web site,
Baen built the house into "one of the leading publishers of science
fiction and fantasy, and in recent years a leader in electronic
publishing and the fight against encrypted books."
According to the house, "The surviving partners of Baen and his heirs
intend to continue Jim's legacy of innovative, independent publishing.
Longtime Baen Books executive editor Toni Weisskopf will be acting
publisher and direct day-to-day operation of the company."
Remembrances of Baen's life will be held at Tri-noc-Con in Raleigh,
N.C., Saturday, July 22, and at Lacon IV, the Worldcon, in Los Angeles
in August.
For a long, heartfelt obituary go to author David Drake's
Web site, where the following appeared:
"The two books Jim most remembered as being formative influences were
Fire-Hunter by Jim Kjelgaard and
Against the Fall of Night
by Arthur C. Clarke. The theme of both short novels is that a youth
from a decaying culture escapes the trap of accepted wisdom and saves
his people despite themselves. This is a fair description of Jim's life
in SF: he was always his own man, always a maverick, and very often
brilliantly successful because he didn't listen to what other people
thought."
---
Nearly 30 years old, Editorial el Mundo--a Spanish-language bookstore
but also long a gateway for immigrants--in the Adams Morgan section of
Washington, D.C., has closed and will reopen this week in Manassas,
Va., with a new owner, the
Washington Post reported.
Walk-in traffic dropped as Borders and Amazon.com began selling
Spanish-language literature and many Latinos moved to the suburbs.
Owner Leonor Rodriguez and her family are not sad. As one son put it:
"We used the store as a springboard for the entire family to succeed."
The new owner has a travel agency that is affiliated with a travel agency owned by the Rodriguezes.
---
The
New York Times
spreads the word about "authors taking a pro-active role in developing
audio versions of their books. Thinking this medium could attract new
readers, they are trying to create more than a straightforward spoken
version of their work."
Among examples: Greg Palast, who got Janeane Garofalo, Ed Asner and Jello Biafra to lend their voices to an audiobook of his
Armed Madhouse; and Sarah Vowell, who persuaded Stephen King, Jon Stewart and Catherine Keener to help with the audio of
Assassination Vacation.
---
Cool idea of the day. Ward Trefft of Chop Suey Books in Richmond, Va.,
has declared July International Local Bookseller Month and will give
discounts to any customer who purchases books at any of at least 17
other Richmond area independent bookstores, according to
Richmond.com.
Customers will receive a 10% discount on new books and 20% on used.
Three or more receipts qualify for 20% and 30% discounts, respectively.
"It's an effort to subvert the tendency to go to larger bookstores,"
said Tefft. "We want to get people used to checking out the smaller and
locally owned stores.
"It's really the small businesses that put the face on the town," he
continued. "Target's a great place; I went there yesterday. But
certainly everyone has a Target. People fall in love with the little
restaurants and cafés and stores that give individuality to each city."
---
Just when you might have thought it was safe to sit near a bookstore front window. . .
On Sunday an SUV crashed into the front of a Barnes & Noble in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., according to the
Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader. No one was injured, but for the time being, the main entrance will be through the store's café.
---
The
Connecticut Post
profiles Dianne DeFonce, one of the first employees of a Borders store
that opened in 2001 in Fairfield and now the event and book group
moderator. She calls the store "the love of her life."
Among her duties: organizing the monthly Round Table, which features
three to six authors who talk about their books and how they broke into
the business. Many participants are aspiring writers.
---
Jeff Rogart has been promoted to v-p, director of mass retail sales, at
HarperCollins, where he will oversee sales into all warehouse clubs and
Wal-Mart--as well as the companies that service them, including AMS,
Ingram and Anderson Merchandisers. He joined the company in 1994. Brian
Grogan, to whom he reports, said Rogart "has done a remarkable job in
growing our business at the warehouse clubs."
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