Not a problem. I still have my Pan Am flight miles, and my 60% off on 20 solar panels and installation from SOLINDRA,or one of them many greenie outfits . Not a problem.

if I were Bridgeport Village, I'd stop leasing to bookstores.

I've been watching the sector (disclosure: i am a CNBC junkie and watch Jim Cramer almost every night). Cramer's mantra about retail is to watch comparable store sales, in this case flat... unlike many others who were down.

You can almost say the risk is high for REIT's who anchor around Macy's, Coach (reported yesterday, and got skunked today) Sears, Target, and even Apple, who didnt hit their numbers either. (Apple is down over 50$ per share in after-hours trading today... it is going to be high pucker factor in Cupertino for the next months).

Retailers who actually did well are the exception, not the rule this past holiday season; in spite of the black friday pictures of huge crowds.

B&N have actually adapted a lot better than many many others to the challenge that Amazon represents to so many different sectors. You could make the exact same comment about Best Buy having trouble dealing with the electronic age as well...

In short: I wouldnt be holding on to ANY retailers gift cards...

Cheers, It's Mike

The Nook is failing, and B&N's stores otherwise just look tired. Best Buy is hopping -- what they sell, you can't do without any more.

While I'm not exactly a fan of Barnes & Noble, I have lots of friends in the publishing business (and not the Portland definition of "publishing business" meaning "working in a nonprofit bookstore for free"), and they're understandably terrified as to what happens to publishing once B&N goes down. The good news is that everyone's taking the worries about B&N seriously; I spent three years trying to warn friends about Borders's collapse, and I was literally threatened at least twice because I needed to stop lying about Borders's future. (Let's just say that with one person, she should be glad her parents got her a car as a graduation present once she got her English degree, because she almost had to live in it.) The repercussions of the collapse go well beyond the company itself (you can pretty much kiss print magazines goodbye if B&N dies, because the remaining markets won't be worth the effort for the distributors still remaining), and we're going to see a lot of book publishers cratering a few months later. As it is, many existing publishers are still squeaking by, hoping to get some smidgen of the money owed them in the Borders bankruptcy, and this will be the finale.

Jack, I think Best buy is hoping what they sell is what you want, not hopping...

(yes, the stores are crowded... but same store sales comparo... no)

Compare two year chart of BKS and BBY to see a really big difference. The issues that BBY has are far far deeper ('showrooming') in the long run... I wouldnt buy or hold either stock at this point (the only retailers I hold are LULU and KORS, and that is because Mrs It's Mike likes their stuff and she's been a pretty good barometer)

Cheers, It's Mike

I wonder if a place like Bridgeport has a lot of renter options? I know some places take what they can get.

I am very concerned for the publishing business, but not terrified completely. I worry more about the writer side. I like that people with the right mind and work ethic can sit in their basement and create something that someone else will buy.

It looks like self publishing online has flourished, but traditional publishers were always a good outlet as well.

I think things will continue for writers, there are still lots of readers out there.

TTR:

I had the same thoughts yesterday.

Online purchases are great if you know what you want. Sucks for browsing, though.

Publishers will be wondering next how to get their wares in front of the consumer. For magazines, Publisher's Clearing House and door-to-door magazine subscription sales aren't going to help the monthlies and weeklies.

ebooks are great for those in the know. Worthless for the average consumer.

Web services like www.nextissue.com may thrive for awhile, but still not the same as the printed page.

Just what will the masses do when printed books, newspapers, and magazines disappear? What's to become of the paper companies?

Perhaps it is all an eco-plot to save the forests.

The Washington Square Barnes & Noble is already closed.