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New book wholesale company has Melfort store owner and
other independents worried
The formation of a new wholesale book company in Canada has independent booksellers worried about the future of their stores, according to Gailmarie Anderson, immediate past-president of the Canadian Bookseller’s Association. About two months ago, Pegasus Wholesale was formed as an independent company from what used to be the distribution division of Chapters, and began supplying books to stores other than just those owned by Chapters. Chapters, which is Canada’s largest bookseller, operates more than 300 bookstores in the country, including Chapters superstores, Coles, SmithBooks, The Book Company and The World’s Biggest Bookstore. Anderson, who owns Melfort Bookstop in the Melfort Mall, said her association is concerned that Pegasus may receive exclusive distribution rights from publishers. That would force independent booksellers to buy from Pegasus rather than directly from publishers. “The greatest concern with Pegasus is that they would get exclusive distribution rights for a lot of international books,” Anderson said, offering an example. “If Random House in the States decided that Pegasus was going to be the exclusive distributor for their books, then all of the books that I currently get from Random House Canada I would have to buy through Pegasus. That’s the big threat – that they would get exclusive distribution rights.” Anderson said Pegasus has informally approached some publishers about possible exclusive distribution rights, but Dennis Zook, CEO and president of Pegasus, denies the allegation. “What we’re setting up and what we are is a wholesaler which buys books from the publisher and sells them to retailers or other places like schools and libraries,” he said. “I’m not at this point… out there actively looking for exclusive agreements with anybody.” Zook said there is a distinction between wholesalers and distributors of books. “A distributor usually means that they have actually acquired exclusive distribution rights. The wholesaler doesn’t have the distribution rights. They’re just simply buying the books and selling them,” he said, noting that Pegasus is a wholesaler rather than a distributor. Even if Pegasus doesn’t get exclusive distribution rights with publishers, Anderson is concerned the company may stockpile books so publishers wouldn’t have them in stock. That would mean independent booksellers would have to buy from Pegasus. “The other threat is in terms of supply and demand, that they would stockpile books in their warehouses,” she said. Since Chapters owns 70 to 80 percent of Pegasus, Anderson is concerned independent booksellers may not be given the same service as Chapters-owned stores. Anderson said this will not affect her store in Melfort as much as larger independent bookstores, such as McNally Robinson Booksellers in Saskatoon and Winnipeg, which order larger volumes of books and may have trouble getting the supply of books they need. Zook said there is no need for concern though, claiming that all booksellers would be treated equally. “We will sell the books to anybody who wants to buy them, and it will be on a totally first-come, first-serve basis,” he said. “As we have inventory in Pegasus, it’s open for anybody to order from us. As those orders come in, they get filled, so whoever places the order first would get the book.” Pegasus is currently the largest wholesale book supplier in Canada. It has in excess of 400,000 titles in stock in its warehouse. Zook said the company offers the largest selection of books in the country to booksellers, as well as offering faster service than ordering from publishers and the opportunity to place one order with Pegasus rather than multiple orders with several different publishers. Anderson says it’s still too early to determine how Pegasus will affect the supply and distribution of books to Canada’s independent booksellers in the long run, but Anderson and the Canadian Bookseller’s Association are taking steps to ensure their survival. |