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Only two years after investment company ProCures bought the 16 Selexyz high street bookshops out of bankruptcy and merged them with De Slegte (its second-hand chain) to become Polare, the new venture has been liquidated.
But the biggest upheaval in the history of Dutch bookselling is at the same time one of the most heartwarming stories of solidarity and goodwill, according to Lucie Vermij, editor-in-chief of the trade paper Boekblad, who commented: “The boost of energy is incredible.“
When it became obvious that administrator Kees van de Meent could not find a buyer for the 29-chain Polare as a going concern, a number of independent booksellers, private entrepreneurs and employees stepped in to rescue the majority of the shops.
In a matter of weeks, 13 of the 16 Selexyz shops have found new owners; the remaining three closed last week. Of the 13 De Slegte branches, eight in Belgium have been taken over by former owner Jan Bernhard De Slegte, while its five branches in the Netherlands have closed.
Mainstay of the rescue operation was the Kwaliteitsbokhandelaren Collectief, a joint operation of 10 indie booksellers loosely led by Fabian Paagman (of Paagman bookshop in The Hague), Ad Peek (Van der Velde, Groningen) and Libris director Caroline Damwijk. The three were fundamental in setting up negotiations with the administrator, channeling funds and starting crowdfunding activities, which are very popular in the Netherlands.
“It was clear from a very early stage that there was a huge public interest in keeping the bookshops open,“ Paagman said. The shop in Nijmwegen, for example, reached its financial goal in 24 hours and doubled it in the course of 48 hours, making it the fastest crowdfunding initiative so far in the country.
The iconic Selexyz stores in Maastricht (pictured) and Rotterdam also raised more money than expected. Most shops have either already been reopened under their former pre-Polare names or are getting ready to do so.