The Man sticks it to bookstore

Moving to consolidate the local book market, Barnes & Noble College Bookstores Inc. yesterday announced the purchase of the House of Our Own bookstore. Despite uncertainties over whether the new Barnes & Noble University Bookstore will ever actually open in the Sansom Common project, the nationwide chain said the decision was part of its continued commitment to Penn and came in response to criticism from community activists. "[People] were concerned that independent bookstores would not be able to survive with our campus presence," said Barnes & Noble Chairperson Leonard Riggio. "So we made them an offer they couldn't refuse -- a very fair offer." But a senior executive at Barnes & Noble, who asked not to be identified, said the retail giant had other reasons for buying out the independent House of Our Own on the 3900 block of Spruce Street. "We just didn't want that type of presence near us," he said. "They lost the Cold War, and we're just mopping them up." Robert Regan, chairperson of University Council's Bookstore Committee, applauded the decision. "This purchase will force all of the 'intellectual comrades' to fall in line with capitalism," the English professor said. "There can be only one bookstore." Deborah Sanford, who has owned and operated House of Our Own for the past 27 years, could not be reached for comment. But an employee who requested anonymity said Sanford had sold out, agreeing to vacate the premises as part of a multimillion-dollar buyout. "Is nothing sacred?" the employee asked. "First Gorbachev, now Sanford, maybe Castro next." Communications Professor Larry Gross, who sits on University Council, said he felt "frozen by a blizzard from the 1950s" upon hearing the news. According to Gross, students in his classes will no longer use books. "Better to learn nothing than to learn with books purchased from Big Brother," Gross said. And College senior John La Bombard stressed that he was glad the wave of purchases and mergers "didn't hit my penis." A Barnes & Noble spokesperson acknowledged that professors have the right to react in whatever way they feel is appropriate. "We have always felt that professors should be free to send their book orders to the international conglomerate of their choice," he said. The deal, which follows the Penn Book Center's recent move to Center City and the recent halt of construction on Sansom Common, will likely leave the area without a bookstore this fall -- which does not seem to bother University President Judith Rodin. "U.S. News doesn't count the number of bookstores on a school's campus," she said.