Megan Landon

Christmas trading figures were flat, and for retail about one per cent down, according to Statistics NZ figures released this week. However, bookstores fall in the consumables and durable section of retail which did see a small rise, according to the report.

Nielsen Bookscan reported that sales for the last four weeks of 2011 were  2.3% down on sales for the last four weeks of 2010 (excluding Whitcoulls).

And that "up and down" scene was pretty much the picture book that retailers painted when  The Read  did the “How was your Christmas?” phone around.

Renée Lang, writer for The Read talks to two independent bookshops about the new IndieBound campaign.

One word sums up how Nevena Nikolic, responsible for marketing and book buying at Auckland’s Time Out, responds to questions about IndieBound, Booksellers New Zealand’s new initiative that ‘recognises that local booksellers are a key asset in ensuring the success of a new book or novel’. That word is enthusiasm.

Actually, make that two words: boundless enthusiasm, which has been bubbling up since Nevena, who describes herself as an ‘upstairs dweller’ in that she’s not actually on the floor selling books, but does ‘a lot of behind the scenes stuff’ learned about IndieBound.

Capable go-getters Megan and James Landon, who have owned Napier’s Beattie & Forbes since 2005, now have a new attraction in the store: a grand piano they are looking after for the Hawke’s Bay Museum while it is closed for a three year rebuilding programme.