Balancing the books: how Waterstones came back from the dead

The chain of booksellers has announced its first profit in years – thanks in part to a bold decision to run each branch like a local bookshop Late on Thursday afternoon, would-be wizards across the UK dropped what they were doing to join the professors of Hogwarts for Harry Potter night. At 6pm in the basement of Waterstones’ six-storey London Piccadilly building, staff were scurrying around with bowls of jellybeans and bottles of raspberry lemonade, but the Harrys and Hermiones were nowhere to be seen.A couple of elderly customers looked faintly disgruntled to find their favourite section shut for a private party. Two young sisters, Alex, 11, and eight-year-old Polly, fidgeted by the closed door clutching a box of quidditch balls, while Yang, a 22-year-old physics student from Korea, appeared baffled. Related: A Twitter love story: the woman who wed @WstonesOxfordSt Related: Waterstones children’s book prize 2016 shortlists - in pictures Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2017-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BA and PA set to oppose Amazon-Book Depository merger

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 07/07/2011 - 09:06 The Booksellers Association has announced it will formally oppose the merger of Amazon and The Book Depository, with the BA saying that Amazon already had a "de facto monopoly". Meanwhile, the PA is actively considering... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BA opposes Amazon and Book Depository merger

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 07/07/2011 - 09:06 The Booksellers Association has announced it will formally oppose the merger of Amazon and The Book Depository, saying that Amazon already had a "de facto monopoly". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon to Acquire U.K. Online Book Seller and Publisher

Amazon.com has acquired The Book Depository International, a seven-year old online bookseller based in the UK, which also republishes titles that are no longer in print or poorly available. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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OFT set to probe Book Depository deal

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 05/07/2011 - 11:26 The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced it is to investigate Amazon’s acquisition of The Book Depository. The official body has issued an “invitation to comment” notice asking for written representations about “any... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Depository to "operate independently" of Amazon

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 04/07/2011 - 16:00 The Book Depository has said it will continue to operate independently of Amazon, as the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it was "too early" to say if today's takeover of the online bookseller would trigger an investigation.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Little hits back at Rowling and Blair over 'disappointing' split

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 04/07/2011 - 09:59 J K Rowling's former agent Christopher Little has broken his silence about the author's surprise defection from his agency, saying that he was "disappointed and surprised" by the "premature news". Responding to Little,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon to acquire The Book Depository

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 04/07/2011 - 12:29 Amazon.com has reached an agreement to acquire The Book Depository, the fast-growing online retailer founded by Andrew Crawford in 2004. Greg Greeley, Amazon's vice president of European Retail, said: "Customers in more... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstone's set for 'revolution not evolution' under James Daunt

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 01/07/2011 - 09:26 James Daunt's tenure at the helm of Waterstone's is likely to be about "revolution not evolution" as he begins his leadership of the company, according to a source close to the situation. The new m.d. of the high-street... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Walker Books launches prize in tribute to late founder

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 01/07/2011 - 09:00 Walker Books has launched an award for new illustration to help mark the 20th anniversary of the death of the company's founder, Sebastian Walker. The Sebastian Walker Award will be run in collaboration with the MA course in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Profit up at Waterstone's despite sales dip

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 09:41 Waterstone’s increased profit by £6.7m last year as like-for-like sales fell by 3.8%, according to financial results released today. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Spotify for books" service launches

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 15:58 An online view-on-demand books service dubbed “the Spotify of books” has launched today. 24symbols, created by a Spanish team co-founded by Justo Hidalgo, is offering access to 1,000 book titles for a subscription fee. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Judging E-Readers by Their Book Readability

If you're heading to the beach this summer and you plan to read an ebook, you won't want to take your iPad. Luckily, the latest versions of the Nook and the Kindle offer glare-free screens and other reader-friendly functions. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: The Question 'Who Is Herman Cain?' Soon To Be A Book

The Republican candidate has sold his memoir to the conservative imprint of Simon @ Schuster. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AUDIO: The 'worrying' battle for books

Arts editor Will Gompertz's second report into the impact of technology on the publishing industry Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-books will "blow apart" cover design

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 09:28 E-books are set to "blow apart" cover design, with designers looking to create "identity packages" that can work for both print and digital editions, The Bookseller Cover Design Conference 2011 was told. Marketing strategist... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mamut completes Waterstone's takeover

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 29/06/2011 - 09:31 Waterstone’s today begins its first day under the ownership of Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut’s A&NN Group as previous m.d Dominic Myers officially leaves the bookseller. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Neil and Childs leave Waterstone's

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 28/06/2011 - 11:38 Waterstone’s commercial director Michael Neil and operations director Roger Childs have left the bookseller today (28th June) with “immediate effect”. Neil joined the company from book wholesaler Bertrams earlier this year and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AUDIO: Are traditional books doomed?

Sara Lloyd, Pan Macmillan: "The basic process of writing will stay quite stable, but the authors who will do particularly well are ones who think about how to build a digital audience." Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2011-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Using E-Books to Sell More Print Versions

The publisher Algonquin is offering digital books at a discount or free to customers who buy certain trade paperback or hardback books. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Beyond 'Event' Book Marketing

How do you promote a book effectively at a time when ebooks may stay in print indefinitely, but not have a physical presence in a store? Internet book marketer FSB Associates has just launched Amplify, a marketing strategy that brings together a list of related titles and creates a Web community... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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