NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), one of the nation’s largest booksellers and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced Barnes & Noble Discovery Friday, created to serve as the official launch of the holiday shopping season and help customers experience the thrill of discovering the perfect gifts for friends and family. On Discovery Friday, which falls exactly one week before Black Friday, Barnes & Noble’s booksellers will be on the front lines to provide personalized recommendations. Every one of its nearly 700 stores nationwide will feature games, activities and giveaways, and hundreds of special guests, including bestselling authors and other notables. Customers can also enter for a chance to win a $1,000 Barnes & Noble shopping spree, with five lucky winners to be chosen from across the country.

“Barnes & Noble offers the ultimate holiday shopping experience for customers who enjoy the art of discovery, appreciate the human touch and recognize that the best recommendations don’t come from an algorithm,” said Mitchell Klipper, CEO of the Barnes & Noble Retail Group. “Discovery Friday shines a light on our 40,000 booksellers, undeniably our greatest asset, and also celebrates our customers by bringing the spirit of fun and discovery to their holiday shopping experience. We’ve partnered with the top publishers and hundreds of special guests to create an incredible lineup of events and activities in every one of our stores across the country. We can’t wait for our customers to discover what we’ll have in store at their local Barnes & Noble on November 22.”

In addition to the vast array of local events and activities, Discovery Friday will also feature great values to help customers get a jump on their holiday shopping. Special one-day NOOK^® offers and Discovery Friday deals will be available in-store on November 22, and Barnes & Noble’s thousands of knowledgeable booksellers will be on the front lines to offer shoppers complimentary gift advice and personalized picks for even the most difficult to buy for recipients on their holiday lists.

Discover Local In-Store Entertainment for the Whole Family

With something for all ages to enjoy, Discovery Friday brings holiday festivities to local Barnes & Noble stores with a fantastic lineup of celebrity appearances, author appearances, book signings, Storytimes, family games and other engaging activities and competitions. Special highlights include:

• Local book signings and appearances featuring hundreds of favorite authors and celebrities
• Duck Dynasty cut-out beards photo station and giveaway
• Holiday-themed Storytimes featuring much-loved favorites at the following times:
  • 10 a.m. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
  • 2 p.m. The Day the Crayons Quit
  • 7 p.m. The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition
• Family-friendly games and activities, including Lego Chima CHI Battles racing tournament and a Moleskine-sponsored “Every Reader is a Writer” activity
• Barnes & Noble Café games and puzzles available to play, featuring Scrabble, Rummy, Spades and many more. Customers will also receive a collectible toy with a Café purchase while supplies last.
• Activities for kids and teens featuring top books like The Heroes of Olympus series, Divergent series, The Fault in Our Stars, The Fifth Wave and SparkNotes’ popular No Fear Shakespeare series

Visit www.bn.com/DiscoveryFriday to learn more and discover all the exciting activities and special guests that will be available at Barnes & Noble stores nationwide on November 22.

FREE Gifts & Exclusive Content from Favorite Characters and Leading Partners

Available only on Discovery Friday, Barnes & Noble shoppers will discover a number of free gifts that feature the season’s hottest entertainment and pop culture, favorite characters, beloved authors and more. Special giveaways include:

• Catching Fire (Hunger Games Series #2) temporary tattoos
• Harry Potter commemorative posters featuring 15th Anniversary edition cover art
• The Heroes of Olympus series and Divergent series posters and other collectible items
• The Book Thief discussion guide and enter-to-win movie posters
• Exclusive John Green collectible quote decals from The Fault in Our Stars
• Poster from Rick Yancey’s The Fifth Wave series
• The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition coloring book and enter-to-win The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition and The Elf on the Shelf: A Birthday Tradition
• Plus aselection of stickers, movie posters and much more

Supplies at each store are limited and these items are sure to go fast, so customers should arrive early for the best chance to pick up their favorites.

Discovery Deals and Special Offers

Holiday shoppers looking to experience the best in digital reading can take advantage of special NOOK offers available on Discovery Friday, including:

• The just-launched new NOOK GlowLight^™ is a must-have for Members, who will receive a double discount of 20 percent off, making this highly acclaimed device a great value at under $100 and a perfect gift for people who love to escape into a great book anytime, anywhere.
• Barnes & Noble’s bestselling and highly acclaimed NOOK Simple Touch^® GlowLight^® will be available for just $49 – a $50 savings on its original price.
• By simply downloading the Free NOOK Reading App^™ on their smartphones or tablets, customers will receive two great digital titles at no cost, including the eBook A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash plus an issue ofFood Network Magazine.

BBC fans can load up on their favorite series with a 20 percent discount on all BBC DVDs and Blu-ray^®, only on Discovery Friday. Customers can also visit their local Barnes & Noble and speak with a bookseller for more information on additional one-day specials on Discovery Friday.

Enter to Win a $1,000 Barnes & Noble Shopping Spree

Customers will also have the opportunity to enter for a chance to win a $1,000 Barnes & Noble shopping spree to bring home even more great gifts and personal finds. Simply visit a local Barnes & Noble store on November 22, approach the NOOK counter and look for the specially created Discovery Friday NOOK App^™ on the NOOK^® HD and NOOK^® HD+ devices displayed to enter the contest.

Five lucky winners from across the country will be selected to receive a $1,000 Barnes & Noble shopping spree, and each winner will be led on a personal holiday shopping journey by an expert Barnes & Noble bookseller to help select the best gifts. For terms and conditions, please visit www.bn.com/DiscoveryFriday.

It All Happens at Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble is the premier destination for the best and leading selection of books, educational toys and games, plus DVDs, music and must-have electronics. On Discovery Friday, customers will experience a variety of local store activities, interactive games, hands-on product demonstrations and more, and Barnes & Noble’s knowledgeable booksellers will be on hand to answer questions and help shoppers find meaningful gifts for everyone on their holiday shopping list. As always, Barnes & Noble’s personalized approach and unmatched ability to guide customers’ discovery makes finding the perfect gifts for friends and family during the holidays much easier and more fun.

For more information on Discovery Friday, details about local events and activities happening on November 22 and to explore book recommendations curated by expert booksellers, visit www.bn.com/DiscoveryFriday or simply ask a bookseller in any Barnes & Noble store.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) is a Fortune 500 company and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The company operates 674 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites, BN.com (www.bn.com). Its NOOK Media LLC subsidiary is a leader in the emerging digital reading and digital education markets. The NOOK digital business offers award-winning NOOK® products and an expansive collection of digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store® (www.nook.com), while Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC operates 692 bookstores serving over 4.6 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble is proud to be named a J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Customer Service Champion and is only one of 50 U.S. companies so named. Barnes & Noble.com is ranked the number one online retailer in customer satisfaction in the book, music and video category and a Top 10 online retailer overall in customer satisfaction according to ForeSee E-Retail Satisfaction Index (Spring Top 100 Edition).

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company's corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.

NOOK^®, NOOK Store^®, NOOK Video^™, and NOOK Video Apps^™ are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc. Other trademarks referenced in this release are the property of their respective owners.

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About NOOK Media LLC

NOOK reading and entertainment products make it easy to Read What You Love, Anywhere You Like^™ with a fun, easy-to-use and immersive digital reading experience. With NOOK, customers gain access to the expansive NOOK Store^® of more than 3 million (US) and 2.5 million (UK) digital books, plus periodicals, comics, apps, movies and TV shows, and the ability to enjoy content across a wide array of popular devices through Free NOOK Reading Apps^™ and NOOK Video Apps^™, available at www.nook.com/freenookapps. NOOK owners receive Always Free NOOK Support in any of Barnes & Noble’s nearly 700 bookstores. Find NOOK devices in Barnes & Noble stores and online at www.nook.com, as well as leading retailers including Best Buy, Walmart, Target and many others. NOOK products are available in the United Kingdom at leading retailers; NOOK content can be purchased at www.nook.co.uk.

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