In a move that puts Barnes & Noble on the path to becoming an international content and technology provider, the retailer began selling its Nook Simple Touch (£79) and Nook Simple Touch Glow-Light (£109) e-ink reading devices today at more than 1,600 retail outlets in the U.K. B&N also launched a British Nook Store offering access to millions of e-books and moved to raise its brand awareness in the U.K. with a “Read in Bed” advertising campaign to highlight the Nook Glow-light’s night-light technology.
Retailers selling the Nook include John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Blackwell’s and Foyles in addition to more than 300 physical stores in the Asda supermarket retail chain and devices will also be available online through Asda Direct.
The e-ink devices are also available for sale through the newly launched B&N U.K. e-book retail site Nook.co.uk which will offer access to 2.5 million titles (as well as newspapers and magazines) aimed at the U.K. book consumer. The site will also offer consumers the ability to order B&N’s tablet devices, the 7-inch Nook HD starting at $199 (8GB) and the 9-inch Nook HD+ starting at $269 (16GB), which will ship by the end of November.
B&N’s national “Read in Bed” campaign in the U.K., including TV commercials extolling the ability to easily read at night in bed with the Nook Simple Touch Glow-Light without disturbing one’s partner, was produced by the Mullen Advertising Agency.
