As the once-mighty bookselling chain faces the music over a 5% drop in sales over Christmas, they’re trying their damndest to save face, claiming that in spite of the news, profit margins are still on track and cry success on the gross profit margins.
And, says CEO Kate Swann, they won’t be drawn into a price war with anyone, especially Waterstone’s: “Customers are not obsessed by price. We got 44pc market share on Sharon Osborne and over 36pc share on Jamie Oliver.” The company’s usual share of the book market is about 25pc.
Of course, the news that they’re about to launch stationery-only shops is rather worrying…or at least, very telling.