10.02.17 Issue No 5743. Established 1858 Incorporating Bent’s Literary Advertiser, established 1802
Look who’s back I
LEADER THIS WEEK
03 ‘‘
The strategy was a race to the bottom, made worse because, for Amazon at least, there is no bottom
n November 2009, the Guardian published an article headlined “How Waterstone’s crushed the publishing industry”, detailing the faults of the then HMV-owned retailer, and their impact on publishers. Last week, following The Bookseller’s report that the chain had returned to profit for the first time since Russian businessman Alexander Mamut rescued it, the newspaper ran an update, “How Waterstones came back from the dead”, highlighting its return to form with books such as Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent. The coverage demonstrates what I think is important about this Waterstones story: it is not just about the financial recovery of one bookseller, but of an entire sector leavened by the change in fortunes of a bellwether business. In 2009, the well-documented problems at Waterstones were part of a wider malaise that ran across chain booksellers (in the UK and overseas) as they sought to compete on price and for bestsellers against the supermarkets and Amazon, at the expense of their core bookselling skills. The strategy was a race to the bottom, made worse because, for Amazon at least, there is no bottom. In investing in shops, booksellers and stock, curbing the use of discount as the blunt instrument it had become, and emphasising its own choices through its Book of the Year/Month campaigns (see p16), Waterstones ran counter to the prevailing retail winds, but rediscovered what made it important to book buyers. For its m.d. James Daunt, who has never been afraid to cut a divisive figure, it is a remarkable achievement, more so for the nerve it took. Credit must also go to Waterstones head office and its thousands of booksellers. The chain now employs three- quarters of the staff it once did, each on average selling more books than they once did. There is now an enthusiasm for the
content and an attention to the detail that had gone missing; it can be seen at its events and through its merchandising of bookshop-fodder such as The Cursed Child or Paula Hawkins’ forthcoming Into the Water.
That the market moved in Waterstones’ direction was, perhaps, good luck, as it was that sales of Kindles (and to Kindles) slowed so quickly and, lest we forget, unexpectedly. But in the US, where similar conditions have prevailed, it is the indies (see p17) that have reaped the dividends not chain Barnes & Noble. Waterstones enjoys advantages others do not, not least its brand, its distribution centre, the high discounts it won from publishers and Mamut
ends,, not chain es others do , the high
t’s backing.
Nevertheless, it is the manner of its bookselling that isling that is important, because it tells us that when given r breathe, books still make the difference.
And that, of course, is positive news for all at a time when good books, sold boldly, will be vital.
a time CHARTS 10 BOOKS 22 CAREERS 36 PHILIP JONES, EDITOR
THIS WEEK’S PREVIEWS NEW TITLES: NON-FICTION (MAY) 24
en room to THIS WEEK...
As Trump’s policies begin to take effect and Brexit nears, the trade assesses the affect on business
LEAD STORY 04–06 Odds on
Will Pearson’s big bet on a digital future for education ever pay off for the firm?
EDUCATION NEWS 18–19 TOTAL CONSUMER MARKET £26.3m BOOKSCAN TCM UP 2.2% ON LAST WEEK’S FIGURES LOST AND FOUND
Talented violinist Min Kym’s world came apart when she lost her soulmate: a 1696 Stradivarius
AUTHOR PROFILE 22–23
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