Barnes & Noble won't have Amazon paper books in e-book fight
updated 05:45 pm EST, Tue January 31, 2012
Barnes and Noble will not stock Amazon at retail
Barnes & Noble's chief merchandising officer Jaime Carey issued a statement declaring that the company's retail stores wouldn't carry Amazon's paper books. The move was in retaliation for Amazon trying to push for e-book exclusives such as its DC Comics deal. A publisher that as a store operator would pull its content wasn't a "good publishing partner," the CMO said.
"Their actions [at Amazon] have undermined the industry as a whole and have prevented millions of customers from having access to content," Carey argued.
The bookseller would offer an olive branch through web-based orders at the most.
Its gesture would come as part of a heated battle with Amazon to stay relevant in e-books. Barnes & Noble is estimated to have about 27 percent share, or about half of Amazon, and depends on content deals to stay relevant. It hasn't resorted to exclusives where Amazon has been encouraging as many special deals in possible now that it can't sell at a loss.
