There are reports out of the US overnight that Borders Group Inc. in the US is to close 150 stores and may file for bankruptcy protection. One only has to look at the extraordinary growth in sales of e-books (click on the image to see a large version of the graph) to understand the challenge for bricks and mortar booksellers. While there will always be a market for print books, the real growth based on current data is coming from the digital space.
If larger specialist book sellers are to start falling over, do you think this may opens the way for newsagents to increase sales in this department…I suppose this also depends on whether or not the department stores expand in this area or decide to limit or even cease thier involvement in a shrinking market.
We believe we have an opportunity to pursue book sales in the mid range. We will not pursue the top 10 titles as they are always being deep discounted by the major chains.
Mark
How are Mag Nation going? I called in and had a look at one of their city stores recently
Plenty of people looking and reading, no one buying.
Peter, my understanding is that Magnation is doing well. They have a multi-faceted business targeting a specific demographic. They also make it clear that they love magazines.
Does not surprise me regarding Borders; i purchased an Amazon Kindle a couple of months ago and will probably never purchase another paperback ever again, the thing is that good.
It will open the door for those newsagents not already doing books if Borders does fold as not everyone wants an e-book on a Kindle.