A couple of noteworthy but ultimately short stories. Target joined the pre-order bestseller price war, though in more limited fashion. They’re matching Walmart.com’s $8.99 offer with free shipping included, but on just six November pre-order titles. Boulder Bookstore buyer Arsen Kashkashian has suggested via Twitter that fellow indies cancel their publisher pre-orders on these deep-discounted forthcoming titles and take advantage of their competitors’ loss leaders. Bookstores will save money, he reasons, while helping Amazon and Walmart.com lose more. And Barnes & Noble’s afternoon media event suffered another pre-announcement leak–this time from the bookseller itself. An ad in next Sunday’s NYT […]
Bookstores
Bookselling: Elliott Bay Book Co. Faces Financial Trouble, May Relocate
The stories began online, with unconfirmed reports that Seattle’s Elliott Bay Book Co. was considering a move to a more upscale part of the city. It took a darker turn when the Seattle Times confirmed the possibility in an interview with owner Peter Aaron, who says his credit line–due for renewal in January, at the same time his lease expires–is maxed out and notes that “finding a lender to keep us liquid is an ongoing battle.” Aaron said “I must refinance, or the loan gets called” and added “until the bank piece is in place, nothing will happen.” The paper […]
Barnes & Noble to Close Remaining B. Dalton Stores
After closing 35 to 40 B. Dalton stores a year for years now, Barnes & Noble is preparing to shutter the last remaining group of 50 Dalton outlets. Spokesperson Carolyn Brown notes, “These are small-format, low-volume stores in malls and their leases are expiring.” All but two B. Dalton stores will be closed within the next few months, with outlets in Washington, DC and Roosevelt Field, Long Island remaining open until their leases expire. Brown says some “booksellers will be offered a chance to move to Barnes & Noble stores in the cases where there are Barnes & Noble stores […]
Price War: $9 Hardcovers at Walmart.com–and Amazon Matches
Following the Amazon ebook pricing reset that publishers have cursed and feared, on Thursday Walmart.com dropped the price on their top 10 pre-orders titles (Palin, Crichton, Grisham, Crichton, Patterson, Koontz, etc.) to an even $10, with free shipping included. More broadly, they are offering their top 200 books at discounts of 50 percent or more in a program called America’s Reading List. Later in the day, Amazon matched Wal-Mart’s pricing–and today both sites have dropped those ten promotional titles to just $9. Walmart.com ceo Raul Vazuez told the paper, “If there is going to be a ‘Wal-Mart of the Web’, […]
Amazon Adds Same-Day Delivery; Removes Kindle Data API
Amazon announced same-day delivery of assorted products in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, Las Vegas, and Seattle. More quietly, and to everyone’s detriment, the etailer confirmed on a forum recently that the data API for Kindle books isn’t broken–it has been removed for good. The post simply states: “We apologize for the confusion surrounding Kindle Books. Kindle books are not available via the Product Advertising API.” What that means is that informational services for searching Amazon’s database (of which our own Amazoom is just one) no longer show any Kindle availability or data. It also means everything about […]
There's Your Barnes and Noble's E-Reader?
Gizmodo has a fine set of leaked pictures of the forthcoming Barnes & Noble eReader.The main screen is a standard black-and-white e-ink display–but at the bottom is a smaller touch-screen color LCD, to use to show for titles (with color jackets) and for other features like a on-screen keyboard. The LCD is said to be inactive while reading, so it probably won’t drain the battery too much. The device is equipped for wireless connections with a to-be-named service provider. The report says that BN will be selling the company’s own books (from Sterling) at a “deep discount.” As for the […]