The Barnes & Noble bookstore at CityPlace in West Palm Beach, Fla., will close, though R. Webber Hudson, executive v-p of Related Urban--the mixed-use division of Related Companies responsible for CityPlace--could not give an exact date when the location would shut down, the Palm Beach Post reported, adding that Hudson did say, however, he expects an L.A. Fitness gym to open in the spot by early 2014.
"On a more nuanced level, the Barnes & Noble shutdown will remove a gathering spot for friends, an after-date hangout for lovers and a place where people settle to study, learn and reflect," the Post wrote, noting that "bookstore aficionados need not despair entirely. There are two bookstores on nearby Palm Beach: Classic Bookshop on South County Road and Palm Beach Book Store on Royal Poinciana Way."
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In yet more B&N news, starting yesterday and extending through Sunday, March 31, the company is offering buyers of its Nook HD Plus tablets a free Nook Simple Touch e-reader, which normally retails for $79. (At B&N partners like Walmart.com, Target and Best Buy, the offer extends only to Saturday, March 30.)
The company called the offer "the perfect way to experience all that Nook has to offer, combining Nook HD Plus, the lightest full 9-inch HD tablet ever invented, with a free Nook Simple Touch, the highly acclaimed and easy-to-use E Ink reader."
Thenextweb.com saw it differently, writing that B&N "is so desperate to sell its flagship Nook HD Plus tablet, that it's now prepared to throw in a Nook Simple Touch e-reader for free."
It noted the shift by consumers to purchasing tablets rather than dedicated e-reading devices and said that the Nook HD Plus has some problems: "The software is reportedly a bit buggy, however, with slow load times, even slower user profile switching and awkward scrolling on the Web browser. So until it can fix the problem with better software, Barnes & Noble hopes to solve the problem by simply throwing more devices at consumers."