This was all over the news yesterday.  This is Time magazine take on the story:

http://moneyland.time.com/2012/05/03/online-vs-brick-and-mortar-war-why-you-can-no-longer-buy-amazons-kindle-at-target/

I've heard two reasons for Target's move.

One, they have  exclusive deals with Apple and Microsoft.  Since Microsoft now has a stake in the Nook, there was a conflict of interest.

Two, Target got tired of Amazon using them for a showroom for their product.  They didn't appreciate shoppers coming in to test drive the Kindle then going online to buy it at Amazon.  They weren't losing the sales so they decided why give them the free look.

Any thoughts on this? 

Not surprising. Mine hasn't had Amazon gift cards for quite a while. I found it funny that they'd sell the Ipad and stuff and tons of iTunes gift cards, but then sell the Kindles and no Amazon gift cards. My Walmart does the same thing, sell Kindles but no Amazon gift cards in stock. When they have them, they only have the $100 ones, and only a couple. But they're happy to sell you all the Kindles you can buy.

I've also noticed that ours has moved all their eReaders from the "Apple" isle, in the middle of the electronics department, to a side isle with 'storage' devices, like SD cards, flash cards and hard drives. I had kidded to DH that they'd demoted eReaders to the back room! Lol. They hadn't been restocking for a while, and still had only a couple of each brand left.

And it just so happened to not only take the eInk devices away from the more-traveled Apple isle, but it moved the tablet eReaders away from that isle as well.

So I wouldn't doubt that there's been some dealing going on between Target and Apple in the back rooms, and we just haven't heard about it yet.

And I'm not real convinced that people being a 'showroom' count when most of the people I know, me included, would rather walk into a store and buy an eReader in front of me. Because if it's broken, or really sucks, I can walk it right back to the store. Not easy to return stuff over the internet. All the ereaders I've ever had have been store purchased just for that reason. (And most, if not all, of our other electronic do-dads.) Since there's no discount for buying on-line, I don't see everyone drooling for one, then rushing home to order, only to have to pay for postage and wait for delivery.

Also, people have had the same opportunity to play with the Apple devices, and then go home and buy them on-line. Yet their still heavy with the Apple stuff on that Isle.

So I'm not really buying that part of the explanation.

You dont get to Look at them anyway the ones on display now have a Built in Demo & have Demo stamped on them No Guts!  No Real feel or to see IF they do what the customer wants!  When I checked out the Nook 2 yrs ago it was a REAL Nook in the stores Same as the Kindle 3 WiFi! 

I so disapointed now all the stores have on Demo are Junk!  Even with the Tablets!  I wanted to look at the Sony Anne was talking about was Junk & in French!  Could not change font size or find out how many books they were supose to hold!  Store Demos Suck!   

No Real feel or to see IF they do what the customer wants!

That may depend on what kind of demo the store orders. Both of our Targets have plugged in, live models of all the ones they've offered.

I think the only 'dud' I've seen has been for a really out-dated Sony model at Office Depot. But our local OD has always been kind of iffy on their stock. They seem to only stock stuff at the end of it's life.

Also, I saw somewhere that more eReaders are showing up at pawn shops. Our new UBS takes in all kinds of stuff for trade, and you can trade in books and use the credit for anything in the store. I traded for a new Nook Touch in box. They had quite a few older Sonys, and a kindle once in a while. It might pay to start checking out the second hand spots.

My local library is asking for older models of eReaders to be donated to them. 

Actually, there is a price difference between your local Target and Amazon. Going online (in most states) = no sales tax. So unless you live in a state without sales tax, you'd save a bundle purchasing the e-reader online. (Around here, sales tax is about 8%+/-, depending on which city you live in.)

Saw on another forum that Target had the Sony's on sale for $69.99. Might be worth a trip there for anyone interested.

Wow that is tempting. I don't need another one, but I recommend the Sony to everyone! Great ereader!

I suspect the "showroom" thing is part of the issue.  But, I think the exclusive contracts were the main reason.  It was curious that the decision was announced so soon after Microsoft and B&N came to their agreement.

Do that many people go to stores just to touch things, then go back home and buy them online?  I'm so out of touch.  I am too lazy to do all that work.  LOL  I usually find whatever online then buy it.

Mel when I was thinking about a ereader I not only went to the store to see what it would do the people at the books-a-million showed me Everyting about the ereader inc going online & checking my email!!  One of the major reasons I was disapointed when I got 2 both broken & I couldnt even get the products CS to talk to me or email.  When I returned them & decided a couple months later I went to Best Buy & again the sales people were able to use the demo to show me what K3 do again even going online!  Nothing WAs Dummy Demos!   So since I was interested in Sony do to ALL the talk on here about them Again I went to BB to check them out!  Same as when I was Trying to find a Tablet that would do what I wanted!  ALL eReaders & Tablets are Now Dummy Demos!  AND unless they are BROKE You cant return them IF you dont like them!  Amazon Will take them back IF you dont like the product... You dont even have to say its broke!

Some states ARE going to be paying Sales Taxes July 1st.  So buying online going to cost just as much as buying instore! 

I live in a pretty small town.  Target's the only place that had any demo e-readers to even look at when I was first looking for one.  I ended up buying my first Sony from them since I had a Visa gift card and they were on sale.  Would have bought online but I've had problems with using Visa giftcards online in the past so decided to spend it at the store even though I had to pay sales tax.

Was at my Target today.  They're in the middle of a major remodel and moved the whole electronics dept.  The new ereader display still has the Sony on it plus Kindles and Nooks.

Saw on another forum that Target had the Sony's on sale for $69.99. Might be worth a trip there for anyone interested.

Just checked two of my Targets (Saturday night) and neither of them had the sale price.    Also checked the ads last night and this morning (Sunday), no go.  And according to this thread nobody else found it at $69, either.  Maybe it was a repackage or something.

Do that many people go to stores just to touch things, then go back home and buy them online?  I'm so out of touch.  I am too lazy to do all that work.  LOL  I usually find whatever online then buy it.

Was in my local Target today...  Kindle on sale Pay $149 get a $40 target gift card!  Another kindle was $XX  get $20 gift card!  I think one was a Touch not sure about the 2nd one LOL  Not 1 Amazon Gift card in sight

Was just at Target and they have the Sony now on clearance for $90.96.  I think it was the T1 model but it was hard to tell.  The display model looked like a pocket edition but the ones in the case were definitely WiFi and larger than the display.

I did not see any Kindles on display at all anymore but 2 weeks ago they had bunches of them.  Didn't really look to see if they were still there or not.

"Not easy to return stuff over the internet."

Actually that depends on what site you buy from.  One of the reasons I am loyal to Amazon is that returns are very easy with them.  Yes, you do have to package the item up and give it to the mailman or UPS guy, but their service is fast and easy and they pay the return shipping.