Claude Durand will step down as CEO of Editions Fayard effective April 8. He will be replaced by Olivier Nora, who remains CEO of Editions Grasset. Philip Walters will retire as chief executive of Hodder Education in October, a post he has held for 30 years. At becker&mayer!, Adrian Liang has been appointed as Associate Publisher, Adult Group. The Taryn Fagerness Agency will now handle foreign rights worldwide for Martin Literary Management.
BAM Sales Off Over 5 Percent
Same-store sales at Books-a-Million fell 5.3 percent in their fiscal fourth quarter (and 2.5 percent overall) at $164 million, as net income fell 4.2 percent to $11.4 million. Sales were off 4.1 percent for the full year, at $513.3 million, for a same-store sales decline of 7.2 percent. Net income suffered more, falling almost 35 percent to $10.8 million. Newly-appointed ceo Clyde Anderson says “The fiscal year closed with an improvement in the negative sales trend we experienced in the third quarter. We remain focused on maintaining discipline in expense control, inventory management and the maintenance of a strong balance […]
BN Reduces Inventory by 11 Percent
In their earnings conference call with investors, Barnes & Noble noted that “inventories declined $155 million or 11 percent compared to last year.” They say they were able to “improve inventory turns to the highest levels in our history” and indicated “our in stock percentage of being in stock on key titles and back list did not suffer at all” as a result. Other supply chain improvements “resulted in reduced purchases from book wholesalers which of course carry lower markups.” A good portion of the inventory reductions were in music, and the company indicated DVDs and music combined now comprise […]
Ingram Cuts 64 Jobs
Ingram has cut 64 jobs, including 34 at its headquarters warehouse in La Vergne, Tennessee and 30 at its Oregon warehouse. “We’re in this very difficult economic period where retail in all sectors is down,” company spokesman Keel Hunt told the Tennessean. “Ingram is being impacted by a falloff in order from retail booksellers. Their sales are down from the year before.”Tennessean
Australia's Productivity Commission Recommends Open Market Push
A discussion draft released by the Australia Productivity Commission found that the country’s restrictions on parallel imports, which requires that a book must be published in Australia within 30 days of its appearing overseas or face the prospect of competing editions “impose costs on consumers but have some cultural benefits for the community”. The commission recommends keeping the restrictions, but only up to 12 months from the first publication of a book and from then on parallel importation should be “freely permitted.” The Commission’s Deputy Chairman, Mike Woods, said in a statement: “The changes will preserve some certainty for local […]
Hachette Cuts Co-Op Programs
Arsen Kashkashian, head buyer of the Boulder Bookstore, reports on his blog Kash’s Book Corner that “yesterday we were informed that Hachette is eliminating” three co-op programs “that will cost many independent stores $3,000 in the upcoming year”, comprising support for newsletters ($2,000), author events ($200 to $800 per year) and their Emerging Voices program ($200), in which “we bought 10 copies of books by relatively unknown authors to earn the co-op.” Kashkashian writes: “In most businesses, $3,000 might be a fairly insignificant amount. In the bookselling world where a profit of 2% is considered stellar, it is a critical […]