Barnes and Noble’s Nook Store to cease operations in the UK from March 15th

It’s bad news for Nook fans in the UK because Barnes and Noble has announced that it will stop selling its digital content in the country from March 15 . This means that the Nook Store, the Nook Reading App for Android (or iOS), and the company’s UK website will cease to operate from the date mentioned. To soften the blow, Barnes and Noble says it has partnered up with the UK supermarket brand, Sainsbury’s, to bring the ‘vast majority‘ of purchased books to the retailer’s ‘Entertainment on Demand’ service.

By using the term vast majority, it would seem that some of the books purchased by Nook customers will not be available from Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand service, which is a little worrying, but apparently there will be vouchers available for titles that aren’t transferable.

In the email sent out to Nook customers, Barnes and Noble pointed out that transferring books over to Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand service will be free of charge. While it isn’t known exactly how the transfer of content will be handled, the company states that another email will be sent out in the coming weeks with instructions on how to implement the transfer.

Nook customers aren’t being given too much time to transfer their content over to Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand service, with May 31 (2016) being the cut-off date. After that date, users will no longer be able to log into their Nook account, nor will they be able to download their books on a Nook device or from an app.

If you are a Nook customer in the UK, the following information could be useful to know:

Nook Videos are not included in the transfer, and will cease to be available for streaming and download from April 30. Customers should contact Nook Support to request refunds
Nook Newspapers and Magazines are not included in the transfer and will cease to be accessible from May 31st.
Nook Newspaper and Magazine subscriptions will be cancelled as of March 15, users will be notified by email
Any pre-ordered eBooks that are expected to be released before March 15th will be fulfilled. Pre-orders scheduled after that date will be cancelled. Pre-orders will not transfer over to Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand

According to the email, if Nook customers set up a new account with Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand service, they will receive an email in the next ten days with directions on how to transfer their Nook Libraries over.

While Barnes and Noble didn’t disclose why it is pulling out of the UK, it isn’t difficult to guess that Amazon’s dominance of the UK market probably has a great deal to do with it.

We have the notification email below:

Dear Reader,

We are writing to announce an upcoming change to your NOOK service and to explain what it means for you.

Effective from 15 March, 2016, NOOK will no longer sell digital content in the United Kingdom. The NOOK Store on NOOK devices sold in the UK, on the UK NOOK Reading App for Android, and at www.nook.com/gb will cease operation.

To meet your digital reading needs going forward, NOOK has partnered with award-winningSainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand to ensure that you have continued access to the vast majority of your purchased NOOK Books at no new cost to you. Further instructions on how to transfer your NOOK Books to a new or existing Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand account will be sent to you by email over the coming weeks. Please ensure that you look out for these emails as they will contain important information on what to do next.

If you’d like to set up an account with Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand before the transfer takes place, you can do so. Then look out for an email over the next 10 days containing a unique link to enable you to transfer your existing NOOK Library.

After 31 May, 2016, you will not be able to sign-in to your NOOK account or download your NOOK digital content on a NOOK device or app. It is important that you transfer your purchased NOOK Books to a new or existing Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand account to ensure access after this date.

Please note that the library transfer to Sainsbury’s includes NOOK Books only. If you have purchased magazines, newspapers, apps or videos from NOOK, visit our FAQs page for further instructions. On this same page, you’ll also find more information on the changes we’ve announced and on the specific actions you’ll need to take.

We thank you for patronage and are working closely with Sainsbury’s to make this transition as smooth as possible.

Sincerely,

The NOOK Team