O MANNY's

What Does this mean for book sellers and Canada's largest Book
Retailer, INDIGO and how I would suggest they stay alive?

1. It's going to be rough if the potential buyers don't face reality that people are not going back to physical books, maybe in about 50 years. Look at Blockbuster, struggling to survive because it made drastic cuts too late. There's also HMV.
   
2. Barnes & Noble's retail is still going to be invaluable but needs to become more an entertainment hub. More events, more seminars, more experience, less shelve space dedicated to books and more variety of goods & services that can't be too easily digitize.  Push online retail but be prepared to face illegal downloads which means much much smaller profit.
3. Smaller or Fewer stores
   
4. To all the people who sell goods or services, I would advice you to start thinking what would a digital product or service look like today and tomorrow.
5. Start preparing strategic initiatives to be a part of it or ways to get out of the business.
   

Snips from WSJ.com

Barnes & Noble Inc., put itself up for sale Tuesday, succumbing to mounting
pressure from shareholder activists as digital books erode the traditional
business of the nation's largest bookstore chain.

Barnes & Noble last year made significant investments in digital
bookselling, including the launch last summer of its own e-bookstore, followed
by the unveiling of its Nook e-book reader.

But the fast-growing digital landscape is increasingly crowded. Amazon.com
Inc. grabbed an early advantage with its Kindle e-reader, introduced in
November, 2007.

Then earlier this year, Apple
Inc. launched its iPad tablet, as well as an electronic book store. Apple has
now sold more than 3 million iPads, and has claimed a share of the fast-growing
digital books marketplace. 

Borders Group Inc., the nation's second largest bookstore chain as measured by
revenue, jumped into the e-book business earlier this year, and Google
Inc. is expected to soon launch its own e-bookstore, Google Editions.