How can we get a handle on what Amazon’s mysterious Kindle statistic–a unit-based percentage of a percentage of titles, where books comprise an unspecified percentage of overall media sales–actually looks like? Given all the variables it’s very hard, but below is one potential formula, and you can adjust the assumptions as you wish. As reported above, North American sales for all media for the quarter were $1.245 billion. At the closest roughly comparable businesses, Barnes & Noble and Borders, book sales tend to comprise 70 to 60 percent of total sales. Let’s be conservative and start with 70 percent, which […]
Bookstores
Update on Efforts to Unlock Borders UK's Financing
The Independent says “Borders UK is still trying to extricate itself from the fall out from the troubles of Landsbanki, the nationalized Icelandic bank” after “last Friday, a number of companies, particularly retailers, found they could not withdraw money from their Landsbanki accounts.” Chairman of the private equity firm that owns the bookseller Luke Johnson says that “We are never more than £3m to £4m drawn on our [continuing] credit facility” but “declined to comment on the other questions put to him.” Additionally, “Euler Hermes is understood to have scaled back its insurance cover for Borders UK in the summer, […]
Obit for A Happy Bookstore
A weekly paper offers a long and admiring farewell: “This is the bittersweet story of the Happy Bookseller, Columbia’s longest-standing independent bookstore, finally closing its doors this month after a 34-year run.”Free Times
Toronto Store Will Close Without Rent Break
Toronto’s Pages Books & Magazines faces the same fate as many well-known US independent bookstores: the 30-year-old store will close next March unless the landlord agrees to a smaller rent increase or a new location is found. Owner Marc Glassman says “once our 10-year lease is up on March 1, the rent is going to practically double, unless the landlord changes his mind.” As for the search for a new space, “we haven’t found a place that’s quite right yet.” One way or another, the store’s well-known This Is Not A Reading Series will continue, though.Globe and Mail
Burnt Grapes Sale Is Close
Bunch of Grapes, the Martha’s Vineyard bookstore that was closed by a fire this summer, has been for sale by owner Jon Nelson. The local paper says “last month’s New England Independent Booksellers trade show was buoyed by rumors of its imminent sale.” His mother Ann Nelson, who owns the building that houses the store, is moving forward with reconstruction and “hopes to have the place fit for a bookstore by spring.”MV Gazette
Harvard Book Store's New Owners
Jeff Mayersohn and Linda Seamonson of Wellesley, MA bought the Harvard Book Store from Frank Kramer, owner for 46 years. Kramer says in the announcement, “Jeff is both a book lover and a businessman who has a tangible affection for Harvard Book Store. When I met him, I liked him immediately. And when I found out that he and his family plan their vacations around the locations of great independent bookstores, I liked him even more.” Carole Horne remains as general manager of the store. Jeff Mayersohn has been an executive at Sonus Networks, a an IP communications infrastructure company. […]