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November 15-30, 2003 Edition Intimate Bookshop

to Appeal Price

Discrimination Suit

11/5/03—Intimate Bookshop will appeal its lawsuit against Barnes & Noble and Borders Group for price discrimination after Judge William Pauley handed down a summary judgment favoring the two large retail chains and dismissed the case. Attorney Carl Person said the appeal was filed in behalf of Wallace Kuralt, owner of Intimate Bookshop. Kuralt says he was forced to close bookstores in North Carolina and Georgia as a result of price discrimination.

Intimate alleged that B&N and Borders forced publishers to give them illegal discounts, thus causing the small bookseller to go out of business. The judge said Kuralt’s lawyers had failed to show that all of Intimate’s losses were due to illegal price fixing by B&N and Borders. Thus the store could not show that it was entitled to legal relief.

Pauley indicated, however, that it was possible another store might be able to show such discrimination by B&N and Borders.