After months of fighting over sales tax issues, Amazon appears to be close to a deal with the state of Texas that would see Amazon creating more than 5,000 jobs and invest $300 million in the state over the next three years, so long as Texas exempts Amazon from paying sales tax for the next four and a half years. The proposal, which does not explicitly name Amazon but , is attached to a state Senate fiscal matters bill that must be passed in order to balance the next fiscal year budget. It would also not exempt Amazon or any […]
Bookstores
Bookselling: WHSmith Travel Success; Thalia To Open Airport Shops; and More
One apparent bright spot in the UK bookselling landscape is WHSmith Travel, profiled in Publishing Perspectives as “long the jewel in the famous company’s portfolio.” UK publishers point to the experience of the buying team, which cites Christos Tsiolkas’ THE SLAP and Richard Templar’s THE RULES OF LIFE as titles they have done well with, as well as the division’s international expansion: they currently operate 26 units, with another 2 to open, as well as having acquired 12 more locations in India and Kuwait. Germany’s largest bookseller Thalia, working in conjunction with Sweden’s Pocket Shop AB, will add between 15-30 […]
Two Landlords Seek to Stop Borders Closings
Borders cancelled their planned liquidation sales of some dozens of stores, but the bookseller is preparing to close at least a couple of additional locations, and those landlords are challenging those plans in court. As we reported earlier, the manager of Borders Downtown Crossing store indicated that his location is preparing to close shortly (and was not dependent on the recent court motions). The landlord tells the court they did indeed agree to Borders requested extension to accept or reject their lease “on or about April 18.” Apparently Borders wants to proceed with closing a Borders Express in Key West […]
Bookselling: 42 More Angus & Robertson Stores Close; “Last Bookstore” Expands
In other bookselling news, 42 more Angus & Robertson stores in Australia are being shut and 19 A&R stores are being sold “within a fortnight”, resulting in the loss of 519 jobs: 116 full-time, 47 part-time and 266 casual book shop staff, with the remaining 90 jobs cut from A&R’s and warehouse staff. Sydney Morning Herald The LAT profiles Josh Spencer, owner of downtown LA used bookstore The Last Bookstore, which opened in December 2009 and recently moved to a 10,000 square foot location in the city’s downtown area. The upgrade seems to be working: “We sold more books here […]
Borders Cancels Store Liquidation Auction; Says New Financing Amendment is Pending
Borders’ warning that it might have to close dozens of some of its best store locations seems to have worked. On top of the 11 announced extensions of the deadline to accept or reject leases, the company filed a new motion late Wednesday with the court canceling the intended auction among liquidators that had been scheduled for June 16. After “extensive negotiations,” the filing says they “believe [they] have reached an agreement in principle” with both their lenders and the unsecured creditors committee “regarding an amendment to the DIP facility which would alleviate the need to conduct” the store closing […]
Taschen Opens Store in Chicago’s Art Institute; More Borders Stores Get Deadline Extensions
Taschen will open a new store in Chicago’s Art Institute, which has set aside about 30 percent of the museum stores reconfigured book section for the specialty publisher. It’s the first time Taschen will operate a store as part of a museum and a way for the company to test the Chicago market. “The million-dollar question is would we do this in other museums,” Creed Poulson, spokesman for Los Angeles-based Taschen America, told the Chicago Tribune. “We would certainly be open to that. We’re very eager to see how this plays out.” Tribune Borders has been granted more time on […]