World Book Night will take place Monday in the UK, US, Germany and Ireland, with thousands of volunteers set to give away more than a million books in those countries (in the US, as we reported, approximately 500,000 books from a list of 20 titles will be given away in more than 5,800 communities.) USA Today has a long overview of what’s planned all day in the US (including a celebratory “closing ceremonies” party at the Union Square Barnes & Noble), while WBN will host a similar event at London’s South Bank Centre. “We always hoped that World Book Night […]
Bookstores
Book Sales Down 8 Percent at WH Smith, with 100 Kobo In-Store Shops Coming This Year
Book sales continue to decline at UK chain WH Smith, down 8 percent on a same-store-sales basis for the six months ending February 29. On their Kobo relationship, the company says “initial performance is encouraging and we plan to further develop the offer throughout this year,” without indicating any figures. High street store sales of 448 million pounds were down over 5 percent overall (by 25 million pounds) and 6 percent on a comp-store basis, but groupwide profit rose 3 million pounds. In a parallel announcement, Kobo explained that they will open 100 in-store boutiques within WH Smith high street […]
A Glimpse of Nook At LBF
Since Nook’s presence at the London Book Fair is an object of fascination for some, here is a picture of where they will conduct business on the show floor (still being set up on Sunday): a closed meeting room (adjacent to regular booths.
What the Settlement Might Actually Cost Amazon and Barnes & Noble
[NB: We made a simple math error below the first time; the correct number of what this might cost Barnes & Noble is $55.5 million, not $30.5 million.] The stock market has sent mixed signals at best regarding key retailers following Wednesday’s announcement of the Justice Department’s lawsuit (and settlement). On Wednesday itself, Barnes & Noble’s stock dropped sharply until someone stepped in and bought a million shares, rallying to recover much of the drop. The stock declined further on Thursday, and Friday morning it is down modestly again, having shed about $90 million in market cap since earlier this […]
Bookselling, and Book Night Updates: Two New Stores, and 25,000 Volunteers
BookHampton opened a new store over the Easter weekend on Long Island’s North Fork in Mattituck. It is their fourth location. On Friday, April 6, a Rizzoli Bookshop opened within the flagship Saks Fifth Avenue store in New York City. It is one of six “shop-in-shops” on the department store’s ninth floor. Rizzoli will hold author events within the space, and says the “carefully curated selection of books will appeal to all the interests of Saks Fifth Avenue’s customers, ranging from fashion, design, entertaining, interiors, special travel destinations and, of course, New York.” With less than two weeks until World […]
Corporate: Indigo Raises Co-Op Again; Dutch Investor Buys Selexyz; and More
When Canada’s dominant book chain Indigo made comprehensive changes to its co-op program last year, local publishers were not exactly happy. Now they are upset again over further co-op increases that went into effect on April 1, but are only beginning to register with some publishers. Quill & Quire reports that Indigo “raised co-op fees from 4 to 5 per cent for books sold online or in its brick-and-mortar stores – an increase of 25 per cent.” In an email to publishers and distributors obtained by Q&Q, Indigo vice-president for adult trade Bahram Olfati said the co-op fee increase was […]