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Speaking of Amazon, the Times of London reported yesterday that Amazon U.K. has "launched a secret search for bricks-and-mortar stores to support its rapidly growing website. It is understood to be scouring the country for high-profile sites just as the Borders book chain is shutting up shop.... Amazon wants to cash in on rising customer demand for click and collect services where shoppers buy online and then pick up their goods from a nearby store. Consumers who are fed up with waiting at home for deliveries are increasingly choosing to buy online and collecting goods at a time that suits them.... It is understood that some of the sites will be out of town because of worries over parking."
Later in the day, Amazon denied the report, according to UKPA. An Amazon spokesman said: "We have no plans to open physical stores anywhere in the world." At least one observer noted that this did not necessarily preclude sites to pick up orders.
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Another Nook delay. Barnes & Noble customers won't be able to browse, buy and take home B&N's e-reader at some B&N stores today as planned, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"Based on the high volume of preorders and our commitment to fulfilling those preorders, we've decided to hold off on providing inventory to the stores until after the holidays," B&N spokesperson Mary Ellen Keating told the paper.
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Next December, the Mercer Bookstore, operated by Barnes & Noble, will move to a new mixed-used development on the Mercer University campus, Macon, Ga., the Macon Telegraph reported. The development will feature stores and apartments that appeal to local residents as well as the school community.
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The Monday before Thanksgiving, Anderson's Bookshop,
Naperville and Downers Grove, Ill., opened Two Doors East, a specialty
gift store that "features gifts, games, wall art, fun food items, an
expanded selection of greeting cards and more. The new Two Doors
replaces a luggage store on Jefferson that closed within the past 60
days," the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
"We
were approached by the landlord of the luggage store since our shop is
part of the same building," manager Kris Nugent said. "He wanted the
space filled immediately; and so when the opportunity came along, the
decision to go for it had to be made quickly. There were no previous
plans to expand, and we didn't learn about the space opening until
October.
"We've always carried greeting cards and seasonal
items, but now we have more space to expand that part of the business,"
she noted. "This new store gives us about 25% more space." Nugent added
that the move will have a positive impact for the bookstore as well.
"We'll obviously have more room for books, which will mean the shelves
aren't so tightly pressed together, and people will have more room to
walk around. We'll also be able to stock more titles on the floor and
not need to go downstairs to replenish shelves as often."
A grand opening ceremony for Two Doors East is scheduled for December 10.
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Common Language Bookstore, Ann Arbor, Mich., "has made a life-or-death appeal to the community," co-owner Keith Orr told the AnnArbor.com. Over the weekend, the LGBT bookshop held a Book-a-Palooza sale and fundraiser.
Orr,
who estimated that there are as few as 50 LGBT bookstores remaining in
the U.S. (see following store about Lambda Rising's imminent closing), said, "Borders and Barnes & Nobles are not our
competition. They serve different functions than we do. We have 7,500
books on our shelves and I'd be surprised if they have more than
100-200 (LGBT) books. Our survival is threatened by Amazon.... It's a
little more painful because (LGBT) bookstores often serve as a
community center."
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Tickets for Sarah Palin's Going Rogue
signing last Friday at Legacy Books, Plano, Tex., "were circulating
online Thursday night on websites such as Craigslist. But with asking
prices as high as $500, many fans of the former Alaska governor were
left out in the cold," NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reported.
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Author Jon Scieszka recommended his "Favorite Children's Books for Holiday Gift-Giving" on CBS's Early Show.
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The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review recommended "hiking, field guides [to] help fill a winter's day."
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Precious keys. At auction at Christie's, Cormac McCarthy's longtime Olivetti typewriter, sold for $254,500, way beyond the estimate of $15,000-$20,000, the New York Times reported. As noted here last week (Shelf Awareness, December 1, 2009), McCarthy bought the typewriter in 1963 and estimates that he has written five million words on it. The proceeds for the sale are going to the Santa Fe Institute.
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Book trailer of the Day: 600 Hours of Edward by Craig Lancaster (Riverbend Publishing).