There May Be Trouble Ahead No.3

The Waterstone's branch on the Old Brompton Road, which was their first ever shop, which opened in 1982 will close on Christmas Eve after the company decided not to extend the lease. Their MD said yesterday "From that one store we have grown Waterstone's into a 320-plus store company with over 4,500 employees and shops all over the country and further afield." Waterstone's has been implementing plans to cut 10% of its floor space over three years. I think that this will accelerate after this Christmas, which may well prove a watershed for book retailing. There's news that Sainsbury’s are selling more books than ever and planning to do more. Waterstones is part of the HMV group and it's well known that the CD/record stores are also struggling. The group recently bought some of the FOPP stores from the receiver and my guess is and has been for a while, that we will see an expansion of that brand at the cost of the separate book and music stores.