The tell comes as soon as you approach the venue: You may have heard that the Olympia, the venue for the London Book Fair, has some construction and expansion underway that could impact the show, even though none of this is made plain on their websites. But this is not an exhibition with a little rebuilding. Olympia is a massive $1.3 billion construction site, with at least nine tower cranes busily waving hello, built around a small, antiquated events center. (Think LaGuardia Airport, only more so.) There are three different entrances to the fair, each for different types of attendees […]
HarperCollins Tests OverDrive’s Bulk Loan Bundles for “High-Demand Titles”
In these charged times, Overdrive has unfortunately timed a press release to the London Book Fair that should matter most to the US library market, giving some context to the contentiousness over publishers’ business relationships with library ebook lending. One strain of that dialog asserts that there is only one basis on which publishers license ebooks to libraries, while the marketplace has implemented a number of approaches to balancing libraries’ needs and budgets. In the announcement, Overdrive celebrates having launched a six-month pilot program with HarperCollins for over 150 “high-demand titles” in their OverDrive Max program that lets libraries “purchase […]
Ingram Plant Closure will Eliminate 270 Jobs
The print-on-demand facility that Ingram is closing in Allentown, PA this year, as announced in January, will eliminate 270 jobs in phases between now and the end of the year, according to a filing with the state’s Department of Labor and Industry. The company is expanding its distribution center in Chambersburg, PA, where it will will add print-on-demand book manufacturing. Ingram said in a statement it “has offered relocation opportunities and/or severance and outplacement assistance to all Allentown associates.” (Chambersburg is 134 miles west of Allentown.)
Employees at Barnes & Noble Education’s Rutgers Location Look to Become Chain’s First Union Store
Employees at a Barnes & Noble Education store on the campus of Rutgers University are petitioning to become the first unionized outlet among the chain’s 785 stores. Bloomberg reports that worker says most of the approximately 70 employees at the Rutgers store have signed on. Last Thursday that filed with the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election on unionizing. The group wants to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The workers who spoke to Bloomberg indicated they seek better pay, job security and more stable work hour.
Bookselling: BN’s New Stores, New Sandwich
The bookseller opens two new replacement stores next week. A 20,000-square-foot store in Danbury, CT relocates the chain from Danbury Square to Danbury Fair Mall, where a store was based for 32 years. In Philadelphia, a Center City store on Chestnut Street takes over from the recently-closed Rittenhouse Square store, in a space that is about 5,000 square feet smaller. The new store does not have a cafe, or a public restroom. But all BN locations with cafes will be getting the Just Egg vegan breakfast sandwich starting April 10, “for a limited time.” The sandwich features “mung bean-based Just […]
Deals Fell In the First Quarter, As Big Publishers Invested Less
Deal reports took a discernible step back in the first quarter, after setting significant records in 2021 and then again in 2022. (Last year, the first quarter was the strongest period the whole year, with total US deal volume ending up down by 1.5 percent.) Total deals registered 4.4 percent lower than in the big Q1 2022, but “core” deals (excluding our digital deals category) declined 8 percent. Similarly, deals from the five largest trade publishers on their own also declined 8.5 percent, leading the market down, primarily due to the two biggest players. Digital deals rose sharply for the […]