Barnes & Noble Stock Plunges After CEO Boire Ousted

Barnes & Noble’s launch of a new Galaxy Tab A Nook tablet took a back seat Wednesday to the company’s announcement Tuesday after regular U.S. markets closed that it cut ties with CEO Ron Boire, who joined the company in September. Shares closed down 11 percent to $11.91Wednesday. In the news release, Barnes & Noble said the board decided Boire, who before joining Barnes & Noble last fall held executive positions with Sears, Toys R Us and Best Buy -- after a 17-year stint overseeing Sony's U.S. consumer sales operations -- “was not a good fit for the organization.” The decision to let Boire go "was in the best interests of all parties," it said. Executive Chairman Leonard Riggio, scheduled to retire after the company’s annual meeting Sept. 14, postponed his retirement. Boire couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday. The newest addition to the Barnes & Noble tablet lineup, meanwhile, is the 7-inch Galaxy Tab A Nook, which went on sale Wednesday at company stores and online for $139. The Samsung-built Android device has a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, GPS, integrated FM tuner, expandable storage from the internal 8 GB to 200 GB via microSD card. Battery life is given as 11 hours of internet use. Existing Nook customers can upgrade to the latest Nook for $99 through a trade-in or by showing proof of purchase of any Nook device at a Barnes & Noble store. Members opting for the upgrade offer receive a free Nook cover valued at $40, it said. Nook Audiobooks will be available to Tab A buyers next month in a software update giving users access to roughly 80,000 audiobooks, said the company.