So where's the person that claimed we'd be getting some news October 9th? Lol.
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Pretty sure the people that are making decisions are having the edibles for breakfast lunch and dinner
Expand by picking up the remaining big players, the brilliant family minds would never do anything like that! Oh wait, NEEBO, BT, Sagebrush...
I would like the edible you just had to come up with inane idea of Follett buying B&N
I went to U of Illinois in the mid to late 90s. Follett was ALWAYS overpriced, I never went there, I went to the Illini Union Bookstore. The old company line was "well we know we aren't the price leader"
Folletts problems started in the 2000s, like other print based media like Newspaper and Magazine conglomerates, they were slow to adapt to the digital/e-commerce world.
e-Follett website was always outdated in look, feel and features. Bad product search engine. I dont think they actually got it right till the most recent re-design of the site.
Layers and Layers of bureaucracy that resembles a former Eastern bloc country.
I really think Follett is on the brink of collapse. Everyone is overworked and underpaid. Stores are understaffed. The HO departments are so far behind on everything. We can't seem to ever pay our vendors on time. Teams getting outsourced. Constant technology/systems failures. Students going elsewhere for books. Overpriced merchandise that that no one wants. It really feels like each year has gotten worse and worse. I've never seen things this bad. It really feels like we're dangerously close to a full-on collapse here.
Nothing happens on the 9th. It's a Saturday. It's just an arbitrary date that someone posted in order to troll. Hence the lack of any accompanying information or explanation.
What happens Oct 9th?
October 9th.
There's no guarantee that Follett would regain recent closures. While they might possibly pick up some, schools still have options - those options being either go independent (which some schools still manage to make this work), go with no bookstore option at all or go with an online provider like Akademos and ditch the on campus store. And before you laugh at the thought of Akademos, let me remind you that Follett lost the University of Oklahoma (OU) contract to Akademos.
(708) 884-0000, ask for Britten
Enough speculating….who’s got some real facts?
I would reach out to the CEO of Content. I'm sure she would share the Family's plans.
Real facts; brush up your resume!!
Enough speculating….who’s got some real facts?
Notre Dame ditched Follett.
What makes you think that if Follett did buy B&N the school would want to work with Follett again?
Buy BN to merge with FHEG.
Double your failing companies?
Sounds like K-Mart/Sears/Sports Authority MBA logic!
Let's go for it!
I would say Follett is in a better position to by BN than the other way around. Now, actually buying BN being a wise decision, that’s another story.
Why couldn't Follett be in position to buy B/N?
They just received a large check for the sale of FSS (think that 3% came from nowhere?). That's cash flow right there.
Buying B/N would take care of main competitor, regain Notre Dame, replace recent closures.
They managed to afford B&T and Neebo (wise or not).
How does B/N compare in size? Which company has the financial chops to buy the other?
B&N is in a world of hurt. They are a public company. Take a look at their financials. They could be picked up dirt cheap. Currently trading at 10.59 per share and worthy only 1.67 a share. Negative rev growth last 5 years, Negative EPS growth last 5 years. Net loss of 453m past 5years. And at current cash flow, it will take 22.5 years to pay off its debt. That’s if they don’t take on any more debt.
The future is likely to be: stores will continue to struggle in a declining market; PT staff will be laid off and, except for rush, SMs will be told to run stores alone; small stores will see their SMs let go and replaced by hourly ASMs; HO staff will continue to be outsourced; stores that aren't profitable enough will not have their contracts renewed. Follett's business model simply cannot keep up with the changing retail/education landscape. There's no turning it around.
Don’t you mean that the other way around? Certainly Follett can’t be in a position to buy Barnes and Noble College!
Buying Barnes & Noble