Meanwhile, the surprise bankruptcy filing came yesterday from Canada, where the country’s largest distributor HB Fenn & Company initiated bankruptcy proceedings under the country’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. In a brief statement Fenn said it had “encountered significant financial challenges due to the loss of distribution lines, shrinking margins and the significant shift to e-books, […]
Canada
Currency Helps/Hurts Indigo
Reporting results for their fiscal third quarter, ending right after Chrismas, Canada’s dominant bookseller Indigo recorded sales of $330 million, up $7.4 million from a year ago. The Indigo and Chapters superstores rose 2.2 percent on a same-store basis, while the small format Coles store comps rose 3.2 percent. Online sales fell 2.6 percent to […]
Smaller Publishers to Skip BEC, Too
Following the withdrawal of Canadian units of Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins from the Book Expo Canada trade show, other publishers are announcing that they too will skip the show this year. Scholastic Canada, H.B. Fenn and Company, and DK/Tourmaline tell Quill & Quire they will not exhibit. Executive director of the Association of Canadian […]
More Withdrawals from Book Expo Canada
HarperCollins Canada and Penguin Canada have joined Random House Canada in announcing that they will not exhibit at this year’s Book Expo Canada trade show. Simon & Schuster Canada is the only one of the country’s four largest publishers that has said it will participate, though president Kevin Hanson indicates their involvement will be modest. […]
No More Multiple Offers from Random House Canada Imprints
Quill & Quire says that “Random House of Canada will no longer allow its individual imprints – namely Random House Canada, Knopf Canada, and Doubleday Canada – to make offers on the same titles.” Now “only one division will be given the go-ahead to pursue a book.” RH Canada president Brad Martin says he will […]
Canada's Thomas Allen Postpones Spring Until Fall
Similar to the recent move by Atlas & Co., Canada’s Thomas Allen Publishers is “postponing” most of their planned spring 2009 releases until the fall. The company “generally releases only 10 to 12 books per year,” the National Post notes. President Jim Allen says, “We are postponing a few of our spring titles due to […]