Barnes & Noble Closing 20 Stores Yearly

Barnes & Noble announced today that it will be closing 20 stores a year for the next decade to cut expenses. The company currently has 689 retail stores, and 674 college stores.

Store executive Mitchell Klipper told the Wall Street Journal that the store revenue over the recent holiday period was down 11% on the previous year, however the company still made $317 million in earnings last year, more than enough, according to Klipper, to offset losses from the Nook ereader section of the company, which spends heavily on advertising and new technology.

According to the Journal:

Barnes & Noble has 442 leases up for renewal by April 30, 2016, representing substantially more than half of its stores. Mr. Klipper said he expects many will be renewed: “Why close them if they are making money?”