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Barnes & Noble has confirmed that it made an offer to buy Tattered Cover, Denver, Colo., an offer that was accepted Monday by the owners, Bended Page, and must still be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which could happen in the next month or two.
B&N CEO James Daunt said in a statement, "Tattered Cover is a storied bookseller that has long been central to the literary life of Denver. Its loss to the community would have been a calamity and Barnes & Noble will provide the support necessary for it to thrive again."
B&N added that "under the acquisition agreement Tattered Cover will retain its name, distinct identity and its staff. Barnes & Noble remains committed to serving local communities with excellent bookstores and promoting literacy. They are looking forward to preserving what has made Tattered Cover so special within the bookselling landscape for over the last 50 years."
Tattered Cover CEO Brad Dempsey, the bankruptcy lawyer hired last year to help turn the company around, told Denverite that his goal was to "preserve and protect Tattered Cover's legacy for the future," which the sale to B&N fulfills. B&N's bid was the only one that included keeping all stores open, which would have led to store closures and employee layoffs.
"The company's never really been profitable over the last, I would say, almost decade or more, and the ability of our booksellers to do what they do has been really restrained by the lack of financial support, the technology problems that have been here," he added. "This is going to allow us to fix those problems and allow our booksellers to really invest in these locations that [longtime owner] Joyce Meskis picked and allow us to do the best bookselling that we can do and continue our brand as one of the best booksellers in the nation."
He said that Tattered Cover staff and customers "still have the spirit of Joyce Meskis, the spirit of Tattered Cover, the spirit of Cherry Creek. We just have to adapt to the current era and be able to use what we have here to really let take the best of the past, but merge it into the future to put it on a sustainable platform."
One of the competing bids for Tattered Cover came from former CEO Kwame Spearman, who headed the company for two turbulent years. In a statement, he said, "While it is important that the business will continue to operate, it is disheartening to see Colorado lose its independently owned and managed bookstore. Despite this setback, I remain confident in our local economy and firmly believe that independent bookstores can still thrive in Colorado."