Next Chapter For Chapter 11

by Judith Rosen -- Publishers Weekly, 5/1/2006

Six months after regional Georgia bookstore chain Chapter 11 filed for Chapter 11 protection, the company is still slugging, said chief bookseller Perry Tanner, whose family purchased the stores in 2002. Since seeking bankruptcy protection last October, Chapter 11 has slimmed down and reorganized, although Tanner said he wasn't sure when the retailer will emerge from bankruptcy.

With the closing of its Peachtree store in February, Chapter 11 now has five bricks-and-mortar stores as well as a corporate sales and offsite bookselling department. In addition, since it introduced used books a year ago, Chapter 11 has expanded its Web offerings to sell beyond its own www.chapter11books.com Web site. It now sells on six additional sites."The Internet business for us is growing in the triple digits," said Tanner. "We can't just run on retail."

Last week, Chapter 11 moved its corporate offices, which previously included 6,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space, into smaller quarters. It no longer holds books to distribute to the stores since publishers began drop-shipping two years ago. Less space is also needed for buying offices; as of January 1, Chapter 11 stopped buying centrally and asked store managers, who had long been responsible for backlist buying, to take on frontlist buying as well. Events will continue to be co-ordinated centrally.