Following the bankruptcy and closure of Borders in 2010, Barnes & Noble holds the unenviable title of the last remaining bookstore chain in the US. Over the years, B&N has frequently struggled to find solid footing in the marketplace.

This week, though, one of the company’s top shareholders paid the chain a compliment, reports Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer. In a letter addressed to B&N’s embattled board of directors, Thomas Sandell, CEO at Sandell Asset Management Corp., a “private, alternative asset management firm,” declared the company is undervalued, at least by other investors.

“Sandell said B&N’s share price – which was just over $7.00 this week, down 36% from the beginning of the year – is undervalued in part because investors have overreacted to the problems faced by brick-and-mortar stores,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. "Physical books, and physical bookstores, are not going away anytime soon, Sandell said.”