News

« Headlines

Publishers in dark over Fopp

28.06.07 Graeme Neill

Publishers are still in the dark over the future of their book orders with Fopp, after the high street chain cancelled book orders and said it was in negotiations with its bank.

"We haven't had any contact from them, nor any indication of what the future of the business is," one publisher said. Another added: "It would be nice to have some communication from them. We are hearing nothing. They bring a nice diversity to the high street, so it would be a shame if they were in trouble."

Fopp has stopped taking orders through its website and is only accepting cash payments in its shops. The retailer's 46 stores were closed last Friday for an extraordinary stock take, after which it admitted that it was having "genuine and lengthy negotiations with its bank". Stores re-opened on Saturday 23rd, but it has not commented publicly since and declined to respond to further questions.

When contacted by The Bookseller, a number of stores said they were not closing. "The company has been talking to banks and suppliers to negotiate new deals from them," one sales assistant said. "The stock take last week was rather unusual but we needed an accurate valuation of how much the business is worth."

Another sales assistant said that staff were being kept in the dark about the future of the chain. "Staff have been told to continue trading but that is all that is being said," he said.

Retail analyst Nick Bubb, from Pali International, said that Fopp's decision in February to take over its failed rival Music Zone could be the cause of current events. "When even someone like Tesco is saying that entertainment sales are weak, it's a sign of the times of how the music and book retail market is performing."

Retail Graeme Neill Fopp

See Also