Let's hope HMV are in good enough shape

Still rather unsettling times on the Waterstone's front. Everybody is hugely positive about the sale to Mamut with James Daunt at the helm. However the deal still needs to be done. The most telling sentence in a recent article in the bookseller was this:

'The HMV Group said banks were supportive of the disposal but warned that if it could not renegotiate its debt, the sale would not go ahead.'

Perhaps publishers should encourage their staff to buy some cds from HMV to boost their coffers.

Exam stress on the increase

The mind can be a very cruel place. Worry can seep into all its dark recesses and make your life a living hell if you don't get a grip on it. That is where yoga is a very useful tool. Often it is the 'mind-view' of something that makes the reality worse. On a pathetic level, it is what I experienced with the Kilimanjaro of ironing that lived in our home. In effect it took a couple of evenings to clear but what a difference it made to my mind. I was virtually skipping today.

If that is what ironing can do to my life, imagine the horrors of a teenage mind riddled with exam angst? Breathing and a good night's sleep are paramount in the fight for mind control. And to help in the fight we have all the Nod offs discounted for the rest of the month. Yes, I need to sell these wonderful products to clear some mind space for myself.

They really are good to relax you. P&p is free within the UK.

A sporting chance for Waterstone's

At last the welcome news that Waterstone's has been sold to Mr Mamut and is to be run by James Daunt of Daunt Books. According to Mr Daunt, Mr Mamut is a book lover. As to Mr Daunt's book selling credentials, just click here. Note the emphasis he puts on having good employees who know the business.

It is amazing how much a company is worth. Waterstone's was bought this week for £53 million.

The original Waterstone's was set up in 1982 by Tim Waterstone. He sold it to WH Smith in 1989 for around £50 million. WH Smith sold it to HMV in 1998 for £300million. From 2001 to 2005 Tim Waterstone attempted to buy Waterstone's back with bids ranging from £180 million to £280 million. He was unsuccessful.

In 2006 HMV/Waterstone's successfully took over Ottakers with a takeover bid reputed to be about £63 million.

Scroll forward to this week and Waterstone's is sold for £53 million. And some say that Mr Mamut paid over the odds.

Given that Waterstone's has obviously expanded with the extra Ottaker shops (and also Dillons in London), and it is practically the last bookshop chain standing in the high street, where did all its value go? Is value just confidence from the money market?

Still, it is great news for Waterstone's and the appointment of James Daunt gives it a sporting chance. Last month it was reported that Amazon profits tumbled 33%:

'Hugely successful internet company reports solid quarterly sales numbers, but because it is investing heavily in people and infrastructure, Wall Street slaps them down for missing Street earnings expectations.'

As soon as people and premises come into the equation, the internet model doesn't work so well. Let's hope it means that Amazon have to put their prices up and the future could look even more rosy for Waterstone's.

A twice read book

It was my mother's 87th birthday the other day so I went to keep her company for the duration. As usual she declared it to be 'the last one I'll probably have'. Anyway, I picked up from her shelves a book I really did enjoy. So much so that although I had read it in the last 6 months, I read it again. It is about a female private investigator, Maisie Dobbs, set about 10 years after the first world war who operates with yogic undertones. I am now going to track down the other books in the series. The author, Jacqueline Winspear, sounds like a thoroughly good egg.

Still no news on waterstones

I bet this sentiment is being felt across a fair few publishers. It is as though the small w is in limbo.

By Concerned Publisher

Meanwhile, has anyone been into a Waterstones branch recently?

They haven't bought anything outside the top 1000 titles and customers orders for over a month now, and every store - or at least those that I have been into - have almost everything face out to give some illusion that they have some stock.

Our sales the chain have slumped from 10% of our monthly turnover to, well, near enough zero in 4 weeks.

Unless the sale goes through in some form, and the new management give some clear direction on where they see the chain going pretty fast, god knows what will happen, but it won't be pretty!

Mon, 09/05/2011 - 13:46

Mystic Meg

I reckon that we are going to hear that waterstone's has been sold very soon. I would like to say that I feel it in my waters, but the truth is that I feel it in our monthly sales account from Gardners for the practically non-existent sales in April. It is what happened when orders from Grant & Cutler suddenly dried up. Next thing, they had been bought over by Foyles.

The cynics among you would say that perhaps the Nod offs don't cut the mustard, but I reckon it is a major shift in the bookselling tables.

Let's see.