Comments on: Waterstone’s Woes

By: helenthornber

helenthornber — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:41:26 +0000

The Guardian have published another article about Waterstones… it’s a month since I wrote this blog and it doesn’t look like anything is getting any better.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/nov/10/waterstones-high-street-bookselling

By: Adam Bent

Adam Bent — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:47:32 +0000

I have to disagree with your comment “that Waterstone’s was still one of the good guys”. As a company, Waterstones have pursued a relentless policy over a number of years taking over their quality competition and rebranding them into yet more Waterstones. They now predominate in their sector of the High Street to such an extent that their true competition has all but disappeared in some areas of the country (I don’t class a stationer and magazine seller who dabbles in the odd book such as W H Smith as a competitor, although I understand that Waterstones does when arguing they do not have a monopoly).

What’s happened, for example, to the chains of Ottakers and Dillons that they took over (never mind the smaller enterprises such as the SPCK University shop in Durham or the wonderful Mawson, Swan and Morgan by Grey’s Monument in Newcastle).

Waterstones is just part of a media chain – HMV Media. Their stock selection and promotion policy controls what we have access to when browsing and therefore read. By eliminating local competition they have already provided a form of censorship to the bookshop browser – you have to travel a long way now in many areas of the country to find a serious bookseller with a wide variety of stock that isn’t a Waterstones. Censoring the information that their own staff have access to is just another step along the road.

By: Nene

Nene — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:09:17 +0000

I used to love Waterstones like you and I guess there might still be branches out there worthy of my love. But my local branch seems to only employ people who are totally clueless about books and literature. Once I asked about a book that had just received a double spread in the Sunday Times a few days before. They didn’t have a clue. I asked about history books for children and (in a completely empty shop) was just pointed offhandedly towards the children’s section of the shop. And I could go on. Besides, when Waterstones are always much more expensive than Amazon on new releases (or any other releases for that matter) and only deliver to your nearest bookshop, what on earth stops anyone from shifting to Amazon? I’d love to have a quality bookshop in my neighbourhood. I used to have that in Copenhagen and bought lots of books there in spite of the fact that I could get them a lot cheaper through Amazon. I liked the woman who owned it and her choice and recommendations of books. That’s a bookshop. No matter how big it is.

By: helenthornber

helenthornber — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:27:18 +0000

There is now an article on The Guardian website about this story http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/oct/09/waterstones-removes-access-to-bookseller-website

By: helenthornber

helenthornber — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:01:47 +0000

Consultants? I think I need to take over from Gerry Johnson as MD!!! Ha ha ha ha…

By: whitespider1066

whitespider1066 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:59:34 +0000

Helen, great post. Waterstones should hire the both of us as consultants to sort out their problems.