The owner of Kate’s Mystery Books in Cambridge, MA has “finally” sold the building in which the store operates and will close the operation on August 1. But Kate Mattes writes: “I won’t actually disappear. We will be having author events at different venues and of course we will have the annual holiday party so there will be opportunities for the mystery community to get together.”Live Journal post
Bookstores
Bookselling: Borders UK May Have A Buyer; Taiwan Companies Pair for eBook Launch; Bookseller Advises Authors On Signings
While still denying that Borders UK is even up for sale and insisting that Clearwater Corporate Finance has been hired only to help “seek out funding opportunities,” it looks like the ailing chain may have a buyer, or at least a company ready to take it off their hands. The Independent reports that the private equity arm of restructuring company Hilco, Valco Capital Partners, “plans to acquire the entire shareholding of Borders UK and take the company forward.” Reportedly they are “offering to take on the Borders superstores, Books Etc and Borders Express shops in a deal that could save […]
Bookselling: Still Hoping to Finance Return of San Jose Store; UK Agents to Become Booksellers
San Jose’s independent store Willow Glen Books closed in May “because of decreasing sales and [owner Cathy Adkins] having to grapple with health issues,” but Roland Vierra is still working on a second attempt to get financing and start the store up again, in arrangement with owner Cathy Adkins. “Vierra said the owner of the building is willing to be patient while he works to get adequate financial backing to reopen the bookstore.”Business Journal In the UK, agents Sarah Lutyens and Felicity Rubinstein are opening a bookstore in London’s Notting Hill in October. They are recruiting a store manager now. […]
More International News: Australian Restrictions Set to Fall; Chinese Kindle Clone; Borders UK to Close 5 Stores; and Three UK Papers Run the Same Story
In Australia, with a report imminent from the Productivity Commission on the country’s copyright laws that protect local book publishing from import editions, consumers are expected to win a bigger victory than initially anticipated. The Sydney Morning Herald “understands one of the proposals will be to free up restrictions on book imports, after a period of up to three years to give the industry time to adjust.” In a draft version of their recommendations in March the commission “said removing all import restrictions would damage the industry” and “advocated limits should apply for a year after a book was first […]
Bookselling News: Pages to Close; Helping Homeless Ex-Bookseller
The back-and-forth struggle for survival of Toronto’s Pages bookstres is ending the hard way: after 30 years, the store will close as the end of August. The store first warned of trouble last October, but in January it was reported that they had successfully signed a new lease at an acceptable rent. Now Torontoist says “in the end there simply wasn’t a choice. Rent is growing faster than sales, and for all that Pages is deeply loved, the cash crunch got to be too much.” Known for “curating the indie set’s reading list and nurturing Toronto’s newest and freshest literary […]
Bookselling News: Trover Closes; Half Price Rises; What Scribd Does Right
Washington, DC’s Trover Shop bookstore on Capitol Hill is closing after 51 years in business. At one point comprising five stores in the area, Trover Shops will be left with a single outlet that sells only cards and gifts. Co-owner Andy Shuman (and son of founder Joe Shuman) tells the Washington Post, “We don’t want to see it go, but unfortunately with the way the industry’s going and other stores closing, we’d rather be on our own terms than someone else’s terms.” They wanted to be able to “walk away with our heads held high instead of with our heads […]