in a securities and exchange filing, leonard riggio said he plans to make an offer for barnes & noble's bookstore chain, but not its nook e-reader business. erika miller takes a closer look at whether splitting the company makes strategic sense. >> reporter: what's interesting about leonard riggio's bid is that he wants to buy the weakest part of barnes & noble's business: the bricks and mortar bookstores. during the all important holiday season, sales at b&n's bookstores and website fell more than 10%. still, some think those bookstores may be a hidden gem: >> there are many americans who still like walking into a store to buy books to browse through the books and get a better sense of what they might want to read. often times, if the price is about the same, and you're already there, you can have it. you can walk out with that book. >> reporter: the bookstore business has deteriorated dramatically in recent years, as more people choose to buy their print books online from places like amazon.com. in addition, more and more people are reading their books electronically, on devices like

i have a chairman leonard riggio is looking it take the retail business private. >> all right, governmentnding cuts, going into effect tomorrow. as you know, defense could be hit. defense stocks hitting new all-time highes. what should you do? by, sell, do nothing? who knows. >>> dow getting closer to the record. there you see. 14094, all-time high. 14,164. it is then 70 point away. impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. >>> welcome back "power lunch." i'm josh lipton. ceo of reality trust will step down next month. steven roth will assume the ceo spot as well. vornado is the biggest investment trust after simon property group. down some 3% right now. tyler, back to you. >>

chairman leonard riggio has told the board he plans to buy the retail assets of the company includingand barnes & noble.com but not the nook digital reader business. a lot of investors trying to figure out whether a deal would come. the company saying it's going to evaluate that in an s.e.c. filing. >>> gunmakers are aiming for record quarterly sales as first time buyers including a growing number of women and pensioners rushed to buy weapons before anticipated gun control laws come into force. president obama's proposals to curb gun violence have increased political investor scrutiny on gun companies accustomed to growth. smith and wesson, they're going to be reporting quarterly results within the next two week. also background checks for firearm sales mandatory for all purchases in gun stores rose nearly 50% year-on-year in december. data from the fbi's national criminal background check system showed all of this. this was the highest monthly percentage rise ever reported for a measurement commonly used to gauge the firearm industry's performance. >> all right, andrew, thank you. le