Barnes & Noble Founder Leonard Riggio Abandons Plans to Buy Bookstores

According to the New York Times, Barnes & Noble founder Leonard Riggio, will no longer try to rescue the company by buying its bookstores. He said in a statement: "While I reserve the right to pursue an offer in the future, I believe it is in the company's best interests to focus on the business at hand."

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Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Ladies' Mile Historic District inManhattan in New York City. The company is known for large, upscale retail outlets, many of which contain a café serving Starbucks Coffee and for competitive discounting of bestsellers. Most stores also sell magazines, newspapers, DVDs, graphic novels, gifts, games and music. Barnes & Noble is also known for selling the Barnes & Noble Nook, as well as various incarnations of its mascot, a teddy bear named "Barnsie".

The company operates 689 stores (as of July 28, 2012) in all 50 U.S. states in addition to 667 college bookstores that serve more than 4.6 million students and faculty members across the country.