RED group Whitcoulls

[Nevl]

Sounds like a float is on the cards but really, books with the development of ereaders and Amazon and competitors doing so well this is another float that I think I will watch from the sidelines.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/indu...ookstore-float

Cannot see a great future for book shops and expect them to do well as record stores over the next decade.

[clarky]

Although it does say profits have risen. The borders and whitcoulls in wellington are always full. maybe the book stores will get in on the ereaders and develop an online store...they must have something up their sleeve to combat the loss of sales to technology.

[Nevl]

Yes i agree with that and NZ retailers have a huge advantage in this area as Amazon and the like don't really care about NZ and tend to ignore our market in much the same way that Ebay allowed trademe to set up in NZ and itunes also ignored NZ for a huge period of time.

Still given the fact that books are extremely easy to download at the moment and a decent non platform specific Ereader could do very well in NZ. I already get the economist online and an ereader would just make my life easier. I don't want a Kindle as it is tied to Amazon but there are plenty of alternatives arriving in the next few years.

A whitcoulls online bookstore for non platfrom specific Ereaders would be a positive step and something that would cause me to look closer at this IPO.

[clarky]

maybe thats a great idea for a new venture, setting up a itunes type library of books for easy and cheap downloading to ereader devices. would need a bit of capital to start but done the right way could take off.

[Nevl]

maybe thats a great idea for a new venture, setting up a itunes type library of books for easy and cheap downloading to ereader devices. would need a bit of capital to start but done the right way could take off.

Do it right then sell to Google or Trademe.

[Zito]

"Cannot see a great future for book shops and expect them to do well as record stores over the next decade."

Nevl, you may be right, but if you cast your mind back the same was said for newspapers a few years back when they became available online. Yet physical newspapers are still doing well. I believe people generally prefer to be holding something when they read it, reading has always been a tactile activity and people's habits are usually slow to change.

[macduffy]

I'm not so sure about that.

People may still be reading newspapers but the advertising dollar is steadily migrating away to electronic media, leaving companies such as Fairfax and NZ Herald's owner ( name escapes me!) struggling as investments. Matters are probably worse overseas where some famous US newspapers have gone out of business in recent years.

It's certainly not the end of books, despite Dymocks' misfortunes, but I don't think I'd be interested in a float of the Whitcoulls/Borders business.

[Nevl]

"Cannot see a great future for book shops and expect them to do well as record stores over the next decade."

Nevl, you may be right, but if you cast your mind back the same was said for newspapers a few years back when they became available online. Yet physical newspapers are still doing well. I believe people generally prefer to be holding something when they read it, reading has always been a tactile activity and people's habits are usually slow to change.

Maybe not as good as you think Zito

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Newspa...26693.html?x=0

[Zito]

*wipes egg off face*

thanks Nevl. Should have done more reading before posting.

It will be interesting to see if online books do the same to bookshops.

[Nevl]

*wipes egg off face*

thanks Nevl. Should have done more reading before posting.

It will be interesting to see if online books do the same to bookshops.

No worries. Have got enough egg for several omlets on my face. Also I have seen a Kindle and its awesome. Slim and the screen is great. Holds a huge amount of books and means that you can carry it round with your ipod and for travel its great. The next step is a generic one that combines a bigger screen and music playing abilities.

Anyway i believe that airport bookshops are history. Have an Ereader and download the latest books and Mags. No more buying books just to dump them later. Actually Publishers and Authors will be the winners as they can cut out the middle man and go straight to the consumer. But clicks and Mortar will win in the end. Still a few e-generations from the perfect reader but when it comes it will be essential for anyone who likes to read on their holidays as well as download your favorite magazine and newspaper anywhere in the world.