Zivago Site Shuts Down
By Herbert R. Lottman -- Publishers Weekly, 4/23/2001
The Italian trade is still digesting the news of the abrupt closing of e-tailer Zivago, the site launched by avant-garde publisher Feltrinelli and the Italian Espresso press group to distribute both books and music (just as Feltrinelli and its subsidiary Ricordi sell books and music, respectively, in their bricks and mortar stores). Zivago had been racking up impressive losses and wasn't due to move into the black for some years down the road, a prospect the partners did not think they could shoulder. At the same time, Bertelsmann-Mondadori's Bol.it became operational, hoping to become a more credible challenger to market leader Internetbookshop.
