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Used-Book Stores in the Digital Age
Even though they’re a niche business, used-book stores have not been immune to the twin threats of the Kindle and the recession, which forced a number of stores to close. Like their new-book colleagues, used-book sellers are looking to new products and business models to survive and thrive. Many have turned to online selling through Abe, Amazon, and eBay. In areas where the recession is starting to recede, some are expanding their physical footprint. Others with relatively flat sales like Half Price Books, the largest independent bookstore chain in the country, continue to re-evaluate their business.
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Points of Sale: Pages of Promise
Lemuria Books in Jackson, Miss., has found a way to connect with the community and promote literacy by partnering with the United Way for its Pages of Promise Book Drive to give every student in grades K-12 in the Jackson school system—where 80% of the kids live on or below the poverty line—a book for summer reading.
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HMH Partners with B&N on Digital Bundles for Schools
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will provide age-appropriate digital content for grades K-12 that has been pre-loaded for classrooms on NOOK Readers.
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Curiosity House Bookstore Closing
At the end of May, Curiosity House Books and Gallery in Creemore, Ontario will close following 17 years of business. Partners Catherine Randall, Miriam Vince, Rowlie Fleming, and Tom Vandewater made the decision following six months of trying to find a new location and new owners, but have decided to end their search.
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Gibson’s to More Than Double in Size
With high double-digit sales since Borders closed, Michael Herrmann, owner of Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, N.H., will expand his store to 10,000 sq. ft. next spring.
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Anderson Family Makes Offer to Buy Books-A-Million
Lost in the Barnes & Noble-Microsoft deal Monday morning was the news that the Anderson family, the controlling shareholders in Books-A-Million, have made a proposal to take the company private by acquiring all outstanding shares for $3.05 a share.
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Mystery Lovers Bookshop Has New Owner
Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, Pa., has a new owner, former bookseller and librarian Laurie Miller Stephens of Dallas, Tex.
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The Book Stall, PW's Bookstore of the Year, is Up for Sale
Roberta Rubin, the owner of The Book Stall at Chestnut Court, a fixture on the Chicagoland bookselling scene, and PW's 2012 Bookstore of the Year, wants to sell.
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National Retail Federation Asks Senate to Act on Tax Fairness
The National Retail Federation Wednesday urged a Senate committee examining federal tax reform to support legislation that would require Internet retailers to collect sales tax the same as local merchants.
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Industry Issues Aplenty at Last ABA Forum
The DoJ, e-books, showrooming, the credit squeeze, and tax fairness were front and center at the last of this spring's 12 ABA regional bookseller gatherings.
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Brookline Booksmith Buys Globe Corner
Globe Corner Bookstore is back in a smaller format as part of Brookline Booksmith. The Brookline, Mass., store purchased the Globe Corner trade names, trademarks, and Web site.
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Skylight Books Will Temporarily Close to Participate in May Day “General Strike”
Skylight Books in Los Angeles, long a bastion of progressive ideas, will close from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on May 1 so that its staff may travel downtown to the planned Occupy L.A. activities during a proposed General Strike.
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Author Teams with Kickstarter, McNally Jackson for New Title
Children’s author Kate Milford set up a Kickstarter page to raise money to self-publish a novella with McNally Jackson to coincide with the release of her second book from Clarion.
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Finding the Right Role for Trade Paperbacks
The trade paperback format lost some ground to e-books through the first nine months of 2011, according to Bowker Market Research, but it remained the most popular print category. Still, the question being asked is what consumer segment the trade paperback is serving in a time when e-books often capture readers looking for the things paperbacks used to offer: a lower price point and a light-weight alternative to hardcovers. Although publishers remain committed to the format, many agents say the biggest shift, and the most damning, has been the demise of Borders. A number of agents PW spoke to said that with Borders gone—all agreed that one of the things Borders did best was sell literary fiction in trade paperback—the barriers to bringing a title out in trade paperback are higher than ever.
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What Should Bookstores Stock in a Digital Age?
Nothing has challenged bricks-and-mortar bookstores to reconsider their physical space and what they carry more than the recession and the rise of e-books. Recently, two independents announced that they will reduce their space. Third Street Books in McMinnville, Ore., which expanded in 2006, is in the process of contracting and subletting a portion of its store, while Bunch of Grapes in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., is moving across the street to a 3,300-sq.-ft. location. It currently has 5,000 sq. ft.
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Book Sales Fell 5% at Hastings
Book sales fell 5% at Hastings Entertainment for the year ended January 31, dropping to about $109 million. Although books constituted the same percentage of total revenue in the year as in 2010, 22%, company sales fell to $496 million from $521 million.
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Puffer Retires; Laties Replaces
Beth Puffer had originally planned to retire as manager of Bank Street Bookstore, part of Bank Street College in New York City, at the end of 2011, but agreed to stay on until April 27 to train her replacement. Andy Laties is already gearing up to assume Puffer's responsibilities.
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Book Sales Fell 9% at Books-A-Million in 2011
Sales of books and magazines fell 9.2% at Books-A-Million, to $345 million, in the fiscal year ended January 28.
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