Kool-Aid chuggers rejoice! Maybe sipping into the dot-com mania wasn't as dangerous a feat as once reported.
Last night, Barnes & Noble
With a 75% chunk of its namesake online operations, the book retailer isn't an anomaly. Actually, it's just the latest bricks-and-mortar operation to take a more active interest in its online space.
While the trend in the 1990s may have been to carve out spin-offs or create tracking shares, companies are starting to realize that Internet operations that survived through the boom and bust are probably worth owning.
While Disney's
In the online travel sector, Sabre
So, in taking a commanding position in Barnesandnoble.com, is Barnes & Noble planning to become the next Amazon
However, this is the realization that offline and online ventures were made to work together. There are synergies to exploit here and the incentive for Barnes & Noble to make it work in the e-commerce realm has now doubled overnight with Bertelsmann's 37% stake in its hands.
Now, with a stronger hand, Barnes & Noble will be able to turn the page on to the next chapter of Barnesandnoble.com with conviction. Stirred right, there should be no aftertaste to the Kool-Aid.
Is Barnes & Noble's move to firm up its online business a sound strategy? The company's timing, with the holidays closing in, can't be coincidental so what do you think it will do differently to compete more effectively against Amazon? And, while we're at it, how strong will the 2003 holiday shopping season treat Amazon? All this and more -- in the Amazon discussion board . Only on Fool.com.