In January, the Wall Street Journal reported, after speaking with B&N CEO Mitchell Klipper, that Barnes and Noble plans to close twenty stores per year over the next ten years. It was also noted that in the past ten years, they had closed an average of fifteen stores every year, though they were still opening new stores (more than thirty per year). A big cause for concern was that in the past fiscal year, the books retail giant, while now free of competition from Borders, did not open any new locations. Coupled with more closings, this news appeared to be a strong signal for the end of bricks-and-mortar for B&N. 

Shortly after the story came out in the WSJ, Klipper told Publishers Weekly that Barnes & Noble is still “fully committed to the retail concept for the long term,” adding that so long as the stores remain profitable (they did earn over $300 million last year, off-setting the exorbitant sums spent developing and promoting the Nook e-reader) they would not be closed.

More information: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/28/barnes--noble-to-close-stores_n_2566386.html?utm_hp_ref=books