Rosier Outlook for Canadian Bookbuying

The Globe and Mail reports that Canadians are buying more books, and the rising Canadian dollar – and cheaper book prices – may have something to do with it. Over the past year, retailers have seen their prices drop as much as 20 per cent as publishers repriced their products in line with a stronger loonie versus the U.S. dollar.
Indigo Books & Music Inc., the country’s largest bookseller, yesterday reported healthy sales gains over all in its latest quarter, despite the “meaningful” drop in book prices. “We have sold many more units of books,” chief executive officer Heather Reisman said in an interview. “That means people are reading.”

While Reisman looked to changing initiatives within Indigo, others within Canada’s publishing world credited the lower list prices as a major reason. Steve Budnarchuk, president of the Canadian Booksellers Association, said that over all the book market has been “reasonably buoyant,” considering the price drops. “Publishers are making an effort to get prices down on foreign books. It needed to happen.” His own first-quarter sales at Audreys Books in Edmonton have been about flat compared with a year earlier.

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