Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Booksellers’ Category

Mar 8

Bricks & Mortar Blues | HMV expected to consider an emergency rights issue | News | Retail Week

HMV is going through the horrors. The situation there would seem to be going from bad to worse. Waterstones is surely likely to leave the group if this continues. What amazes me about that decision though is the likelihood that in cash and sale terms, the book-chain is more likely to recover or at least stabilize:

UBS analyst Adam Cochrane said: “In our view HMV would be in a much more stable financial position if it issued equity to pay down debt.” Arden analyst Nick Bubb said: “It is becoming possible after [Tuesday’s] debt disaster the group will have to sell Waterstone’s and raise emergency equity.”

Brokers thought HMV would probably need to raise at least £50m. They said it would need a convincing business recovery story to win support from shareholders in the event of a fundraising, which they fear could dilute the value of their holdings.

via HMV expected to consider an emergency rights issue | News | Retail Week.

Share|

Mar 7

Bricks & Mortar Blues | The bookshop that lost the plot – Books – NZ Herald News

An excellent piece on the collapse of REDgroup in Australia and New Zealand with New Zealand’s Whitcoulls as its primary focus. The Irish publishers (or indeed the Canadian, Austrian or any smaller market publisher with larger same-language neighbours) will find many of the notes ringing true.

Independent bookseller Hamish Wright says he understands the reasons for such moves, but laments that it sometimes means retailers are not able to respond to customer demand as quickly as they would like. Some New Zealand orders are now being given lower priority than those from Australia, he says, and some now take many days to arrive. In December in particular, delays can mean lost sales, he says. Or they may prompt customers to go online instead.

Independents insist their superior service and greater knowledge will continue to give them an edge over the chain stores. But with sales of e-readers slowly gathering momentum in New Zealand, and overseas sites such as Amazon and The Book Depository continuing to siphon off an unknown number of online sales, some believe that many bricks and mortar booksellers will struggle to remain viable.

Even Whitcoulls has been unable to match its competitors in online sales, despite the fact that it was one of the first to tackle what used to be called e-tailing with its aptly-titled FlyingPig website. More than a decade later, local websites such as Fishpond and MightyApe are believed to be well ahead of Whitcoulls in online sales.

via The bookshop that lost the plot – Books – NZ Herald News.

Share|

Mar 1

Bricks & Mortar Blues | HMV warns on profits and could breach covenants – Telegraph

At some point, the question must become what is HMV’s end game. Not will it collapse, but how best to manage the business down. How rapid a transformation is possible? Is there money and profit to be wrung from the best for much longer or would savage surgery NOW result in a longer more profitable life for the company?

It seems clear from a number of reports that Waterstone’s chain is in play, but I can’t help but feel that such a move surrenders a brand and chain that could more easily make a digital transition then the music group. To see what B&N has achieved in the US is instructive surely?

The group added that it has entered talks with its lenders with a view to changing its banking covenants.Simon Fox, the chief executive, said: “Trading conditions remain tough, reflecting a difficult consumer environment as well the changing markets in which we operate. However, our business is adapting quickly to respond to these external factors, and we are confident that our plans will ensure its long-term and sustainable future.”

via HMV warns on profits and could breach covenants – Telegraph.

Share|

Feb 17

Bricks & Mortar Blues | Brillig: The List

The Brillig blog by literary agent Joshua Bilmes is very interesting and insightful when it comes to the Borders situation. The post today covering The List of Border’s stores closing is at once fascinating and depressing:

There is no one type of store that seems to have survived better than some other type. There are new concept stores from 2008 that are gone (Southbury, CT). There are stores in major urban locations (18th & L, DC). There are stores in weird rural locations (Colleyville, TX). There are Waldenbooks replacement stores (Southbury, Milford CT). There are stores in fancy downtowns (Los Gatos, CA). There are new stores and old stores. The problems at Borders weren’t limited to this thing or that thing, but to anything and everything.

There’s still no recognition that the company needs to use the strengthened cash position it could have coming out of this filing to strengthen its supply chain, speed replenishment, and update reordering and inventory systems to match B&N. The bankruptcy filing still lists things like “strengthen Borders Rewards Plus” and “start selling related non-book items” as the major focus areas of the turnaround plan. These things aren’t going to cut it, if they don’t deal with the supply chain.

via Brillig: The List.

Share|

Feb 17

Bricks & Mortar Blues | Borders, Angus & Robertsons local owner REDgroup fails

It has been a harsh week for the old fashioned book chainstores. Border in the US finally went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy to no-one enormous surprise and in Australia and New Zealand, REDgroup announced it too was entering administration.

In some ways the Amazon.co.uk’s announcement of free shipping to Australia and New Zealand is a sting in the tail rather than the cause:

BusinessDay has learnt that REDgroup was forced to call in administrators to the businesses this afternoon following a board meeting. Although its flagship Borders franchise is expected to remain open in the short term, its future in Australia and the jobs of its staff are now in doubt.

The outlook is similarly grim for Angus & Robertson, which has a corporate history in Australia that dates back to 1886 when David Angus and George Robertson opened a bookshop in Sydney.

New Zealand-based Whitcoulls is of even older vintage. Originally named Whitcombe & Tombs after its founders joined their businesses in 1882, according to the companys website.

via Borders, Angus & Robertsons local owner REDgroup fails.

Share|
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »