More Bad News For Books

 

COSTCO & Books
   I never really thought of Costco as a place to buy books, but I had also not considered buying gold or silver from a Costco store. I think I have seen books stacked on tables at the local one, but according to a recent article they may become a scarce commodity at Costco. A first reaction may be, "Who Cares?", but a more reasoned one might be, "Holy Cow!" Costco as a customer purchases thousands of books.
   Here is the article and while it refers to the United States, I would think the same decision would be made for the Canadian Costcos.
"Costco Plans to Stop Selling Books Year-Round: The Decision, Which Will Be Implemented in January 2025, Could Significantly Impact Publishers," Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter, New York Times, June  5, 2024.

   Beginning in January 2025, the company will stop stocking books regularly, and will instead sell them only during the holiday shopping period, from September through December. During the rest of the year, some books may be sold at Costco stores from time to time, but not in a consistent manner, according to the executives, who spoke anonymously in order to discuss a confidential business matter that has not yet been publicly announced.
   Costco’s shift away from books came largely because of the labor required to stock books, the executives said. Copies have to be laid out by hand, rather than just rolled out on a pallet as other products often are at Costco. The constant turnaround of books — new ones come out every Tuesday and the ones that have not sold need to be returned — also created more work....
   The decision could be a significant setback for publishers at a moment when the industry is facing stagnant print sales and publishing houses are struggling to find ways to reach customers who have migrated online. 
   While Costco isn’t as critical a retail outlet as bookstore chains like Barnes & Noble, it has provided a way for people who might not otherwise seek out books to see them and perhaps grab a new thriller or a cookbook while shopping for socks and paper towels. Shoppers could also browse books at Costco in a way that is difficult to do online.
   Robert Gottlieb, a literary agent and chairman at Trident Media Group, said he’d spoken about the changes at Costco to a number of publishers who were alarmed by the potential blow to sales.
“Costco across the country was a big outlet for books,” he said. “There are now fewer and fewer places to buy books in a retail environment.”
   The change may also impact Costco customers, particularly those who live in areas without a bookstore. And because many books at Costco were impulse buys, some of those sales may not shift over to Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Instead, they might not happen at all.


Additional Bad Book News from Ukraine

All of the news from this area has been bad, but this may be overlooked, given the tremendous loss of lives.
   "On May 23, Russian missiles struck the Factor Druk printing house in Kharkiv, Ukraine (story). Seven people were reportedly killed and more than 40 injured. In addition, some 50,000 books and 60 tons of paper were burned....
  Factor Druk was surely not a random target. Vladimir Putin has been determined to obliterate Ukrainian culture even before he began his barbaric invasion in early 2022. Unfortunately, this spring, Putin’s buddies in Congress were able to slow U.S. aid long enough to give Russia a major advantage.  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a statement saying that the attack on the Factor Druk printing house “demonstrates that Russia is waging war against humanity and all aspects of normal life.”
[The source for this is Ron Charles, "Book Club" newsletter from the Washington Post, June, 7.]

CANCON
   If Costco needs to store their excess books in freezers, they should have good ones:
"NDP Leader Slams Liberals For Giving Nearly $26-Million to Costco, Loblaw in Recent Years," Canadian Press, Globe and Mail, May 9, 2024. 

"The money came from the Liberal government’s low-carbon economy fund, which is meant to support projects that will reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.In 2019, the Liberals faced heat from Conservatives after the government announced it was giving up to $12 million to Loblaw for energy-efficient refrigerators and freezers at 370 of its stores. Newly released data from Environment and Climate Change Canada show Costco was also given more than $15 million for efforts to reduce emissions, including new fridges.
Loblaw was ultimately given more than $10 million.
The payments were made to the two grocery chains between 2019 and 2023."