Waterstones reduces prominence of PRH books in credit limit dispute

Waterstones has reduced the visibility of books from Penguin Random House in its branches after the publisher placed a limit on its credit.

The dispute between the country's biggest dedicated bookshop chain and its largest trade publisher began late last year and has seen Waterstones booksellers being told to manage their stock in such a way as to avoid running out of individual PRH titles.

A spokesperson for PRH confirmed a credit limit had been introduced “at a very significant level” in the last quarter of 2020 but claimed there were “no practical restrictions on trading now”.

However, although the chain is not restricting its stock of PRH books, they are still being moved to less prominent positions in stores to avoid impulse purchasing that might lead to stock running out.

One Waterstones employee said the move involved removing PRH books from areas such as tables, display spaces and windows, instead “quietly retiring them to their relevant sections”.

Such a situation would normally only occur in bookselling when stock is running low on a popular title, but is now happening across PRH's range.

Meanwhile, no PRH title has been picked as a Book of the Month by the chain in 2021 so far, a major driver of sales. The situation has also meant the chain has had to wait for reprints of titles that are in demand.

The Bookseller understands that Waterstones is working to its usual credit terms and has no concerns over its finances, despite PRH's move. The situation appears to be unique to PRH.

Waterstones joined other booksellers last month in reopening its doors after months of lockdown, with m.d. James Daunt hailing an “exceptionally busy” first week back.

A spokesperson for Waterstones said: “We very much hope to return to normality now that our shops have reopened. It is wonderful to be so busy, with sales running far ahead of our expectations.”