Barnes & Noble Withdraws from Europe but Continues UK Presence Amid Nook Market Struggles
While in Germany and some other European countries, the Tolino Alliance has formed a strong counterforce to Amazon in the eBook market, the situation in the USA is quite different. There, the largest bookstore chain, Barnes & Noble, was initially present as a competitor with its Nook business, but took a wrong turn and became hopelessly lost.
In other words, instead of continuing to focus on dedicated reading devices, they relied on developing their own tablets (likely due to various market forecasts), but these sold sluggishly and led to losing ground to Amazon.
Despite ongoing negative news about the Nook business division, Barnes & Noble had ambitious plans and repeatedly announced intentions to launch in Europe. One reason was the financial injection from Microsoft, which was tied to a condition of expansion.
Ultimately, it only managed a Nook launch in the UK, where Barnes & Noble collaborates with various (book) retailers. The long-anticipated launch in the rest of Europe never materialized—and according to current information, it likely never will.
European Plans Off the Table
As reported by The Bookseller, Barnes & Noble is closing its office in Luxembourg. This location served as the European headquarters for the subsidiary “Barnes & Noble S.Ã r.l.” Still, the US bookseller intends to maintain its presence in the UK market, as confirmed by B&N spokesperson Mary Ellen Keating to Bookseller.
This suggests that the European plans are not just on hold but probably entirely scrapped. After Microsoft exited Nook Media in December 2014, there’s no obligation for Barnes & Noble to pursue further international expansion.
In any case, the expansion of the Nook business was only carried out half-heartedly: aside from the launch of the Windows 8 application in November 2013, not much else happened.
Market Opportunities Now Too Slim
It’s not entirely surprising that Barnes & Noble doesn’t want to take any more risks outside of the UK business due to the disastrous figures in the home market. Adding to this is the fact that the window of opportunity for a market entry into Continental Europe has already passed.
While back in 2012, when Barnes & Noble set up an office in Berlin and sparked rumors about an imminent launch in Germany, the European eBook market was just beginning to awaken, things look quite different now.
In particular, the launch of the Tolino Alliance in 2013 shattered Amazon’s former dominance in Germany, and the European expansion course might be (obviously) much easier for the German bookstore alliance than for the cumbersome US bookseller.
Thus, the chances of establishing a presence here are now virtually nil, making the closure of B&N’s European headquarters a sensible decision. Perhaps there will soon be some other smart decisions that might also put the bookseller back on the right track in the digital US book market.
