Bookseller Barnes & Noble volleyed another shot at rival Amazon.com by announcing that the chain will stop selling books in its stores published by the Internet retail giant.

Jaime Carey, chief merchandising officer at Barnes & Noble, said in a statement Tuesday that Amazon had “undermined” the book industry by pushing for exclusive deals with authors, agents and publishers.

The decision escalates the long-running rivalry between the companies as they battle over the burgeoning digital book market with rival e-readers (Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook) and now editorial content.

Amazon had been flexing its muscle in the publishing world, bypassing traditional publishers and pushing for exclusive rights to sell books via its Kindle digital bookstore. Last year, for example, the retail giant signed a deal with the popular self-help author Tim Ferriss.


All this does not sit well with Barnes & Noble, which operates more than 700 bricks-and-mortar stores and has been trying to compete with Amazon in the online realm.

“Their actions have undermined the industry as a whole and have prevented millions of customers from having access to content,” Carey said. “It’s clear to us that Amazon has proven they would not be a good publishing partner to Barnes & Noble as they continue to pull content off the market for their own self interest. We don’t get many requests for Amazon titles, but if customers wish to buy Amazon titles from us, we will make them available only online at bn.com.”

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