Russo’s Books will close their downtown Bakersfield bookstore after 12 years, continuing to operate their two other larger mall-based locations. Owner Michael Russo tells the local paper, “The economy is slow and there just wasn’t enough business to continue operating all three, especially when two of them were just three and a half miles apart.”Bakersfield […]
Bookstores
Consternation in UK Over Asda's HP Paperback Discount
Sales of the paperback release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the UK were dominated by Asda after they decided to sell the book for just one pound for the first three days. Asda book buyer Steph Bateson says they sold just under 40,000 copies during the promotion, while Nielsen Bookscan tracked sales […]
ABA to Partner with Applewood on POD
I love the tidbit via Vermont Public Radio that, despite publishing world dreams that a POD book machine within a bookstore will make available countless titles efficiently to individual customers, what those customers really want is to make their own books. There is, potentially, huge opportunity there for physical bookstores, since the dozens of web […]
New Indie Bookstore in Berkshires
“Pittsfield now has its own downtown bookstore. Chapters Bookstore, Inc., a new independently owned bookstore under the management of Aimee McLear, and Kelly Wright,” which opens today. The co-owners “have extensive bookselling and management experience.” The 2,000-square-foot selling space is at 78 North Street.iBerkshires
Olsson's Wins Conversion to Chapter 11
Struggling under an involuntary Chapter 7 liquidation filing from a group of creditors, Washington, DC-area bookseller Olsson’s was granted a conversion to Chapter 11 status by a Federal Bankruptcy court of Maryland last Friday. Olsson’s listed assets of $929,428 and liabilities of $1,951,629. In a filing from three major publishers, Random House has an unsecured […]
Borders Live with Audio Downloads
The promised inclusion of downloadable audiobooks at Borders’ web site has gone live, with “an initial 15,000 titles” on offer. The company says that over a third of those titles are available in (DRM-free) MP3 files. Starting today and running through Saturday, you can download a free audio version of Jon Krakauer’s INTO THE WILD, […]