News
Filling the Gap
Various industry members are working to ensure that B&T’s withdrawal
from trade wholesaling will not disrupt the fall selling seasonW
ith Baker & Taylor’s withdrawal from the retail
wholesaling business largely completed,
independent booksellers, wholesalers, and
publishers have been developing new plans
to ensure that stores receive quick replenishment of titles
and uninterrupted wholesaling services in the upcoming
fall and holiday seasons.
The nation’s two biggest remaining trade wholesalers,
Ingram and Bookazine, have been busy since B&T announced
in early May that it was pulling out of the retail market. “We
did not have the typical slow May and June,” said Shawn
Everson, chief commercial officer for Ingram. Noting that
Ingram already had relationships with most independent
booksellers, Everson said that the company has signed up
about 900 new accounts since the B&T announcement,
including a large number of smaller stores as well as a good
amount of comics stores.
Bookazine chief operating officer Richard Kallman said
that the New Jersey–based wholesaler has signed “hundreds”
of new accounts since May, with the greatest number coming
from the Midwest, the South, and the West. Bookazine has
also increased its title base by 18% and increased its frontlist
buying, he noted. The company recently hired Josh Harwood
as its Northeast sales director, and Kallman said more hires
are to come.
Everson said that Ingram has also broadened the depth
and breadth of its inventory, in many cases bringing in titles
based on the recommendations of booksellers. He added
that Ingram wants to ensure that its Indie Vault “is really solid
this year.” Ingram has also
added some more nonbook
products that B&T had
stocked but it did not.
While both Kallman and
Everson said that the tran-
sition away from B&T has
generally been orderly,
Everson said booksellers
had switched over faster
than he thought. As a
result, Ingram’s sales with
indie booksellers in Junewere up between 18% and 22% over June 2018, while July
sales are running 25% to 28% ahead of last year. For his
part, Kallman said Bookazine is prepared “for a robust fall.”
A key to creating a smooth transition has been informing
publishers and booksellers about what Ingram is doing,
Everson said, adding, “We talked to the ABA board in July
and will talk to them again in October.” In addition, he noted,
Ingram reps will make a trip to the West Coast in early August
to talk with a number of large bookstores to learn more about
their daily ordering patterns. Ingram has also set a two-city
listening tour to meet with booksellers in Boston (on August
16) and San Francisco (on August 21).
One of the major concerns of booksellers interviewed by
PW, particularly for those on the West Coast, has been how
quickly Ingram—or for that matter Bookazine—can fill orders,
including special orders. “I don’t know about the rest of the
country, but I can say that the B&T closure is hurting book-
sellers on the West Coast,” said Alison Reid, co-owner of Diesel
Bookstore in Los Angles. “B&T’s Reno warehouse carried a
far deeper stock than Ingram’s Roseburg [Ore.] warehouse.
We were able to fulfill many of our customers’ special orders
in a speedy way.” B&T’s Reno warehouse has stopped fulfilling
trade orders and will remain open until the end of February
to fill orders from public libraries.
“Baker & Taylor worked very hard to fill a gap when Partners
West went out of business,” said Tracy Taylor, general manager
of Elliott Bay Bookstore in Seattle. “They picked up many
regional titles we count on. As more and more books are
sourced from Ingram Tennessee rather than Ingram Rose-
burg, we have experienced
larger turnaround times on
the West Coast, and we
know that if someone
doesn’t step in to replace
this loss, the cost-of-goods
number we all closely watch
every month will increase.”
Judith Kissner, of Scout
& Morgan Booksellers in
Cambridge Minn., said that
she hopes Ingram can
deliver the same kind of4 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ AUGUST 5, 2019
Everson Kallman