11/23/2023 0 Comments Bookends bookstore evanston![]() “Essentially, we have to make every book sale by arguing to the customer that when they pay us more money for a book, they’re getting some kind of value that’s worth that money,” Barrett says. ![]() These pricing differences mean that Barrett sometimes has to explain the disparity to her buyers and convince them of the added value of purchasing books in her store. Barrett has also noticed that publishers are selling books on their websites for less than the price printed on the book covers. Meanwhile, corporations like Amazon have the resources to sell books at a lower price, particularly since they have other sources of revenue. online retail trade book market” and are seeking monetary recovery and a termination of the unfair business practices through the lawsuit.Īlthough independent bookstores are permitted to sell books at discounted rates, Barrett says that between store operating expenses and book publishers’ prices, constantly selling books at discounted prices wouldn’t be sustainable for her business. The plaintiffs also claim that Amazon has acquired “monopoly power in the U.S. These clauses ensure that other booksellers are unable to compete with Amazon’s prices. trade book sales while Amazon accounts for about 90% of digital print book sales.Īccording to the official complaint filed by the plaintiffs, Amazon and the Big Five have used restrictive clauses in their distribution agreements to hinder competition in the sale of print trade books. Together, the Big Five account for about 80% of U.S. The defendants in the case include Amazon and the five largest book publishers in the United States, known as the “Big Five” –– Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Two law firms, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Sperling & Slater, P.C., filed the lawsuit on March 25 in the U.S. Nina Barrett, owner of Bookends & Beginnings, outside of the bookstore on May 22. “If you’re looking for somebody to be the face of what this lawsuit is fighting for, we are it.” “I honestly felt very honored and very lucky that this had come to me,” Barrett says. The lawsuit claims these companies intentionally fixed the price of trade books, which are books published for the general public, leaving independent bookstores unable to compete with their prices. In March, Eamon Kelly, a partner and litigator at Chicago-based firm Sperling & Slater, P.C., approached Barrett about joining a class-action lawsuit against Amazon and five major book publishers. But she never thought she would be able to take a leading role in a lawsuit against the company that could have an impact in restructuring the independent bookstore industry. As the owner of independent bookstore Bookends & Beginnings in downtown Evanston, she has spoken out against the corporate giant many times. Nina Barrett hasn’t made a purchase from Amazon in two years. Bookends & Beginnings Bookends & Beginnings fights for the survival of the independent bookstore in court.
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