![barnes and noble store](https://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/130225080749-barnes-and-noble-store-1024x576.jpg)
Barnes & Noble Chairman Leonard Riggio wants to buy the company's stores, and leave the company's Nook e-book business as a separate company.
Riggio, who disclosed his plans in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, did not name a price. Shares jumped 8% in early trading.
Riggio is already the largest shareholder of Barnes & Noble (BKS), with nearly a 30% stake in the company.
The company had already been considering spinning off the Nook business as a separate company.
Last April, it announced a deal with Microsoft (MSFT) in which Microsoft bought a 17.6% stake in Nook. Publisher Pearson (PSO) bought a 5% stake in Nook in December.
Those deals both value the overall Nook business at more than $1.7 billion, even though Barnes & Noble stock is worth just less than $800 million.
In early January, the company reported a weak Christmas season, with sales at its retail stores falling 11%. Sales at its Nook unit fell 12.6% to just $300 million.
Earlier this month, the company warned of rising losses and disappointing sales for its Nook unit in the past year, results of which are due Thursday.
![How Barnes & Noble ships millions of gifts](https://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/121219015626-n-barnes-noble-distribution-center-00012303-tablet-large.jpg)
Barnes and Noble and other traditional book retailers have struggled with competition from Amazon.com (AMZN), which has its own Kindle e-book. Borders filed for bankruptcy two years ago and went out of business in July 2011.