Alan Giles, CEO of the HMV Group since it was formed in 1998, is
resigning effective the end of the year, "the first high-profile
management victim of
deteriorating sales conditions on the U.K. high street," as the Daily Telegraph
put it. As reported by Forbes.com,
HMV had disappointing results for the holiday season, and
at the company's Waterstone's booksellers division, comp-store sales
fell 2.4% and overall sales dropped 1.6% in the five weeks ended
January 7. The company said that despite the results and Giles's
departure, it is continuing
its delayed effort to take over Ottakar's. (For its part, Ottakar's
reported flat comp-store sales in the four weeks ended January 7,
according to Bloomberg.)
In the early 1990s, Giles was head of Waterstone's, then a W.H. Smith subsidiary, when it opened some stores in the U.S.
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In conjunction with the American Booksellers Association, Paz & Associates's Bookstore Training & Consulting Group is offering another full-week workshop for prospective booksellers. Opening a Bookstore: The Business Essentials will be held March 13-17 on Amelia Island, near Jacksonville, Fla. The only other full-week workshop to be offered this year is scheduled for late September just before the Great Lakes Booksellers Association's trade show in Dearborn, Mich.
For the workshop agenda, list of trainers and registration form, visit the "new store" page at www.pazbookbiz.com. Anyone who has placed a spot on hold may now secure a place by submitting the registration form. Attendance is limited to 20 stores. Call 800-260-8605 for further information.
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Elizabeth Bluemle and Josie Leavitt, the owners of the Flying Pig Bookstore in Charlotte, Vt., have been appointed co-chairs of the New England Children's Booksellers Advisory Council (NECBA) for two years. New England Booksellers Association president Allan Schmid made the appointment; NECBA is a NEBA committee open to any NEBA member involved in children's bookselling.
NECBA meets three times a year and is responsible for, among other things, major parts of the children's aspects of NEBA's annual trade show. NECBA next meets February 15.
In the early 1990s, Giles was head of Waterstone's, then a W.H. Smith subsidiary, when it opened some stores in the U.S.
---
In conjunction with the American Booksellers Association, Paz & Associates's Bookstore Training & Consulting Group is offering another full-week workshop for prospective booksellers. Opening a Bookstore: The Business Essentials will be held March 13-17 on Amelia Island, near Jacksonville, Fla. The only other full-week workshop to be offered this year is scheduled for late September just before the Great Lakes Booksellers Association's trade show in Dearborn, Mich.
For the workshop agenda, list of trainers and registration form, visit the "new store" page at www.pazbookbiz.com. Anyone who has placed a spot on hold may now secure a place by submitting the registration form. Attendance is limited to 20 stores. Call 800-260-8605 for further information.
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Elizabeth Bluemle and Josie Leavitt, the owners of the Flying Pig Bookstore in Charlotte, Vt., have been appointed co-chairs of the New England Children's Booksellers Advisory Council (NECBA) for two years. New England Booksellers Association president Allan Schmid made the appointment; NECBA is a NEBA committee open to any NEBA member involved in children's bookselling.
NECBA meets three times a year and is responsible for, among other things, major parts of the children's aspects of NEBA's annual trade show. NECBA next meets February 15.