DVA Expands Book Remainder Niche

In addition to used book retailers, another company that is having a good year is the closeout company Distribution Video & Audio. Although DVA has its roots in the DVD and CD market, it has a growing book business and now buys around five million books annually from 50 different accounts, ranging from small to large publishers. Its customers include dollar chains, Wal-Mart, Target and online retailers, as well as independent stores. Ryan Kugler, president and co-owner of DVA, said the company has seen an increase in sales over the past year: “We're doing very well. People like cheap stuff.”

Based in Florida and with an office in Los Angeles, DVA generates $15 million in annual sales. Within its book business, children's is the biggest category (about 60%) and is growing, but Kugler noted its bestsellers aren't books in the Twilight or Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Rather, the books that DVA is selling large quantities of are books that customers at dollar discount stores are looking for. “Twilight's not their demographic,” Kugler said. Books in the Bob the Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine series, which DVA can purchase at closeout rates, are more popular.

The company's biggest clients are large retailers, although a growing segment is smaller Internet resellers, whether “Bob's Bookstore Dot Com, eBay or Amazon,” said Kugler. Many of the “new and used” resellers on Amazon buy inventory from DVA, for, say, $1.50 per book, and then resell it for $3. Kugler said that many people are launching online retail businesses after being laid off from other jobs. Kugler said he likes having dollar discount chains and Internet resellers as clients because they typically order 500 to 1,000 books at a time and pay cash. And “they keep reordering because they keep selling.”