Top 5 Specialty Retail Companies To Invest In 2015

Top 5 Specialty Retail Companies To Invest In 2015: Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS)

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (Barnes & Noble), incorporated on November 19, 1986, is a bookseller. The Company is a content, commerce and technology company that provides customers access to books, magazines, newspapers and other content across its multi-channel distribution platform. As of April 27, 2013, it operated 1,361 bookstores in 50 states, 686 bookstores on college campuses, and operates one of the Web eCommerce sites, and develops digital content products and software. Barnes & Noble operates in three segments: B&N Retail, B&N College and NOOK. The Company's principal business is the sale of trade books (generally hardcover and paperback consumer titles), mass market paperbacks (such as mystery, romance, science fiction and other popular fiction), children's books, eBooks and other digital content, NOOK and related accessories, bargain books, magazines, gifts, cafe products and services, educational toys & games, music and movies direct to customers through its books tores or on barnesandnoble.com.

Of the Company's 1,361 bookstores, 675 operate primarily under the Barnes & Noble Booksellers trade name. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC (B&N College), a wholly owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, operates 686 college bookstores at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble Retail (B&N Retail) operates the 675 retail bookstores. Retail also includes the Company's eCommerce site and Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. (Sterling or Sterling Publishing), a leader in general trade book publishing.

B&N Retail

This segment includes 675 bookstores as of April 27, 2013, primarily under the Barnes & Noble Booksellers trade name. These stores generally offer a dedicated NOOK area, a comprehensive trade book title base, a cafe, and departments dedicated to Ju! venile, Toys & Games, DVDs, Music, Gift, Magazine and Bargain products. The stores also offer a calendar of ongoing events, incl uding author appearances and children's activities. The B&! N Retail segment also includes the Company's eCommerce website, barnesandnoble.com, and its publishing operation, Sterling Publishing. Barnes & Noble stores range in size from 3,000 to 60,000 square feet depending upon market size, with an overall average store size of 26,000 square feet. During the fiscal year ended April 27, 2013 (fiscal), the Company reduced the Barnes & Noble store base by 0.3 million square feet, bringing the total square footage to 17.7 million square feet. The Company's B&N Retail segment purchases physical books on a regular basis from over 800 publishers and over 50 wholesalers or distributors. As of April 27, 2013, Barnes & Noble had stores in 162 of the total 210 Designated Market Area markets.

Sterling Publishing is a publisher of non-fiction trade titles. It is a range of non-fiction and illustrated books and kits across a range of imprints, in categories, such as health and wellness, music and culture, food and wine, crafts and photo graphy, puzzles and games, history and current affairs, as well as a children's books.

B&N College

B&N College sells new and used textbooks in campus bookstores and online. As of April 27, 2013, B&N College operated 686 stores nationwide. The Company's customer base, which is mainly consisted of students and faculty, can purchase various items from their campus stores, including textbooks and course-related materials, emblematic apparel and gifts, trade books, computer products, NOOK products and related accessories, school and dorm supplies, convenience and cafe items.

As of April 27, 2013, B&N College operates 651 traditional college bookstores and 35 academic superstores, which are generally larger in size, offer cafes and provide a sense of community that engages the surrounding campus and local ! communiti! es in college activities and culture. The traditional bookstores range in size from 500 to 48,000 square feet. The academic su perstores range in size from 8,000 to 75,000 square feet. B&! N College! 's three customer constituencies are students, faculty members and campus administrators.

NOOK

This segment includes the Company's digital business, which includes the Company's eBookstore, digital newsstand and sales of NOOK devices and accessories to third party distribution partners, as well as to B&N Retail and B&N College. Barnes & Noble's NOOK digital bookstore and Reading Apps provide customers the ability to purchase and read their digital content and access to their Lifetime Library on a range of digital platforms, including Windows 8 PCs and tablets, iPad, iPhone , Android smartphones and tablets, PC and Mac. Barnes & Noble has implemented features on its digital platform to ensure that customers can access their NOOK content from almost all of today's most popular devices.

The Company competes with Target, Books-A-Million, Waldenbooks, Amazon.com, Apple, Wal-Mart and Costco.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Barnes & Noble (BKS) are tumbling for a second day after John Malone’s Liberty Media (LMCA) said it would sell most of its stake in the struggling book seller.

  REUTERS

  In a report released yesterday, Credit Suisse analysts Gary Balter and Andrew Kinder note that Liberty Media’s exit could mean the end of the line for Barnes & Noble’s Nook:

  The removal of Liberty Media as a significant investor in [Barnes & Noble] also seems to be another signal in the company’s strategic shift with managing the NOOK. Similar to CEO William Lynch’s departure, it appears those most interested in growing the NOOK platform have now left. Under new management, the new strategy being implemented for the NOOK is one where cost cuts are emphasized and attempt! s are mad! e to monetize, not grow, the remaining assets. This strategy has decreased the value drag of the NOOK this year. However, it is too [early] to see to what extent this strategy will result in the ability for shareholders to see just the positive EBITDA contributions from Retail and College, something that the bulls are currently hoping for.

  Shares of Barnes & Noble have dropped 4.8% to $18.19 at 3pm today, while Liberty Media is off 2.4% at $1127.30.

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Mel Evans/AP From a media giant growing its reach through rental cars to a beleaguered theme park operator warning of even slower turnstile clicks, here's a rundown of the week's best and worst from the business world. Microsoft (MSFT) -- Winner Many argued that Microsoft deciding late last month to offer up its flagship Microsoft Office suite of productivity software for iPads was too little, too late. Folks had already moved on to free or nearly free alternatives, and Microsoft was already suffering with a global slump in PC sales. Well, Microsoft still has plenty of bite. It announced there were 12 million downloads of its Word, Excel and PowerPoint iPad apps in its first week of availability. Barnes & Noble (BKS) -- Loser It's not just bookworms checking out of Barnes & Noble. Liberty Media (LMCA) is selling 90 percent of its shares of the struggling bookstore operator, taking its stake of 17 percent down to less than 2 percent. Liberty Media will give up the right to appoint a pair of board members now that it's a shrinking investor, but that seems to be a small price to pay for an investor that wants to deploy that money somewhere else. Running a book superstore isn't easy these days. Barnes & Noble's sales have been sluggish as readers go digital, and the chain's push to cash in on the trend with its own Nook line is fading fast. Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) -- Winner Satellite radio will be easier to tune into in rental cars. Avis Budget Group (CAR) revealed this week t! hat in-da! sh Sirius XM receivers are now available in more than 60 percent of its Avis and Budget car rental agencies. Avis Budget previously relied on portable plug-and-play receivers that renters could order at the counter. Drivers will still have to pay for access. There's no free lunch even if it's a prepaid rental. However, it's still a good way for Sirius XM to expand brand awareness and ideally hook future subscribers. SeaWorld (SEAS) -- Loser Looks like the killer

• [By Sue Chang and Saumya Vaishampayan]

  BKS: Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS)  shares slid 5.4%. Liberty Media Corp. (LMCA)  said Thursday it would sell the majority of its 17% stake in the book retailer.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-5-specialty-retail-companies-to-invest-in-2015.html