Indie booksellers in the U.K. "are concerned about the dominance Waterstones would have on the high street if the sale of Blackwell's to the chain's owners goes ahead," the Bookseller reported, adding that most are, however, "grateful the former family-owned chain would be re-homed" and have positive views of Waterstones. Earlier this month, it was reported that Elliott Advisors, the hedge-fund owner of Waterstones and Barnes & Noble, is in "exclusive" talks to buy Blackwell's.
"No one wants to see fewer physical bookshops but, with Waterstones already owning Foyles, it could be argued that they will have an effective high street monopoly, and I'm not sure this would be allowed in other retail sectors," said Marie Moser, owner of the Edinburgh Bookshop in Scotland.
"I'd be sorry to see Blackwell's lose its independence," said Hazel Broadfoot, manager at Village Books in Dulwich, south London. "I think Waterstones are a force for good in the book trade, and essential to the health of our high streets. However, I'd prefer not to see more erosion of the independent sector, with all that brings in the further polarisation of power between a very few large retailers and the body of smaller independents."
Richard Drake, owner of Drake--The Bookshop in Stockton on Tees, observed: "Books on the high street is important and high profile on the high street is essential. If this is eroded, that can't be good news, so Blackwell's continuing to be an entity has to be a good thing."
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For the first six weeks of 2022, the print market in the U.K. "has recorded its highest weekly sales since pre-digital-revolution 2011," the Bookseller reported, adding that the market was up 15% in units sold and 12% in value compared to 2020.
Thus far in 2022, the print market has dropped only once below 3.5 million books sold, and its lowest value has been £29.9 million (about $40.7 million). In terms of units sold, "no year since 2011 has notched up weekly sales so high so early. It's been 13 years since any week in the first six weeks has hit a value above £30 million [about $40.8 million], in 2009," the Bookseller wrote. Adult fiction and children's are up 34% and 23% in units sold, respectively, over the last six weeks compared to two years ago.
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Winter weather update:
The American Book Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands: "We are open today. After Eunice ravaged our country yesterday and cost four people their lives, most of us woke up today, healthy and whole, with only some devastating news stories to watch on TV or read about it in the newspaper. Yesterday evening one of our windows at the Amsterdam store blew out and we were afraid for major damage to our book collection, but some heroic glazier named Rik went out into the storm and placed security glass, so the damage was minimal. Thank you Rik. In the scheme of things we were lucky. So if you feel you want to take your mind of what happened yesterday, know we are open, as is Harar for coffee."
Westbourne Bookshop, Bournemouth, England: "We've taken the decision to close while Storm Eunice passes.... So we're encouraging you all to hunker down and stay safe tomorrow--put the kettle on and read a book...." And later: "We're back today--just a bit of sweeping up to do! Need to find out whose roof is missing some tiles now."
Uppsala English Bookshop, Uppsala, Sweden: "Perfect reading weather!! And both shops are open--in case you run out of reading materials...." --Robert Gray