The bookseller will only sell her books by special order going forward. Spokesperson Leigh Dethman says: “Like any retailer, our purpose is to offer products that are embraced and expected by our customers. When we find products that are met with mixed review, we typically move them to special order status.Salt Lake Tribune
Bookstores
Bookstore Burrowings
So one of my wonkier habits is scrolling through the lengthy SEC filings of major public companies in the book industry, exacerbated by recent annual reports from Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Books-a-Million. (The detailed filings often share interesting tidbits we don’t get to in the basic earnings releases and ensuing conference calls.) Among the things we’ve learned in the past couple of weeks: Borders sold just over $2 billion worth of books last, out of total revenue of $3.242 billion, or a little under 62 percent of sales. Books-a-Million, on the other hand, says that 83 percent of their […]
Bloomsbury UK Removes Prices from Backlist, and Retailers Are Surprised
Bloomsbury has been removing printed prices from backlist titles in the UK starting “over a year” ago, Richard Charkin tells the Bookseller. He adds, “When something drops into the backlist, you may wish to increase the price, in which case this enables us to do it [more easily]. It’s a sensible thing to do because I think this government is going to have to introduce high levels of inflation, and we want to make sure we have a way of dealing with it.” But all retailers surveyed by the magazine have been taken by surprise by the move. Borders UK […]
Borders Drops Stock Split for Now; Will Clean Out Board
With its shares trading at over $1 per share for almost two weeks now, Borders has decided not to ask shareholders to approve a reverse stock split at the company’s annual meeting on May 21. (The NY Stock Exchange has also decided to temporarily suspend the dollar-per-share minimum for all companies.) Borders also announced a sweeping change in the composition of its board. Two positions will be eliminated as it shrinks to eight members–and five directors who will still stand for re-election intend to “step down over the coming months as suitable replacements are found.” They have so many openings […]
ABA Says It "could be illegal for ABA to organize, support or condone an economic boycott of Amazon"
After a legal review, the American Booksellers Association offers cautionary legal advice to members, saying that businesses joining together to boycott, or advocate a boycott of, Amazon could be illegal since “antitrust laws forbid combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade.” They note that “As individuals, you are free to express your opinion about Amazon’s activities. And, our country’s history is replete with stories of how individuals have combined to effect political and social change…. As an organization, however, we believe that it could be illegal for ABA to organize, support or condone an economic boycott of Amazon. Accordingly, it […]
BN Introduces Video-Blogging Booksellers
Barnes & Noble has added videos by 11 of their booksellers from around the country to their website’s Barnes & Noble Studio section. Called Blogging Booksellers, the feature, to be updated weekly, presents “a real-life and personalized account of recommended weekly reads” along with news about store events. The booksellers were “selected for their extraordinary passion and knowledge about books.”