Home Entertainment Culture A bookstore in Rouen on 32 December 2020. – JP PARIENTE / SIPA It’s time to take stock for libraries. As announced on Tuesday by the Syndicat de la librairie française, they limited the breakage in 2019, the overall activity of the profession showing a decline of 3.3% in sales compared to 390. “The exceptional attendance in bookstores after the two periods of closure made it possible to avoid a disaster”, explained the union in a press release, underlining the “very massive return” of readers to bookstores following the two periods of containment : + 32% in June, + 32 % in December. One in five bookstores showed a decrease of more than 10% These data were collected by the Bookstore Observatory, managed by the Syndicate of the French Bookstore . This includes 368 bookstores for a consolidated turnover of 310 million euros, ie more than a third of the turnover of the profession. The evolutions are contrasted according to the size of the bookstores, the largest having suffered the most from the closure. The higher the turnover, the more the activity shrinks: thus, bookstores with more than 4 million euros in turnover suffered an average decline of more than 9%. One in five bookstores showed a decrease of more than %. The majority of shelves were down, with the exception of literature, comics and practical life, which together accounted for half of sales in library in 2020. For tourism, the art book (closure of museums, cancellation of exhibitions) and academics, the poor performance was directly attributable to the health crisis. “Non-essential” businesses Bookstores, cataloged among businesses not essential to the second lockdown, were finally able to reopen at the end of November, and were therefore able to take full advantage of the wave of purchases during the Christmas period. Many voices were raised to ask for their reopening, reading proving to be a psychologically valuable activity and in great demand when other cultural activities are stopped. According to the union’s estimates, during the second confinement, sales authorized to booksellers, by mail order and on their doorstep (“click and collect”), provided up to 10% of turnover achieved in normal times.
Home Entertainment Culture A bookstore in Rouen on 32 December 2020. – JP PARIENTE / SIPA It’s time to take stock for libraries. As announced on Tuesday by the Syndicat de la librairie française, they limited the breakage in 2019, the overall activity of the profession showing a decline of 3.3% in sales compared to 390. “The exceptional attendance in bookstores after the two periods of closure made it possible to avoid a disaster”, explained the union in a press release, underlining the “very massive return” of readers to bookstores following the two periods of containment : + 32% in June, + 32 % in December. One in five bookstores showed a decrease of more than 10% These data were collected by the Bookstore Observatory, managed by the Syndicate of the French Bookstore . This includes 368 bookstores for a consolidated turnover of 310 million euros, ie more than a third of the turnover of the profession. The evolutions are contrasted according to the size of the bookstores, the largest having suffered the most from the closure. The higher the turnover, the more the activity shrinks: thus, bookstores with more than 4 million euros in turnover suffered an average decline of more than 9%. One in five bookstores showed a decrease of more than %. The majority of shelves were down, with the exception of literature, comics and practical life, which together accounted for half of sales in library in 2020. For tourism, the art book (closure of museums, cancellation of exhibitions) and academics, the poor performance was directly attributable to the health crisis. “Non-essential” businesses Bookstores, cataloged among businesses not essential to the second lockdown, were finally able to reopen at the end of November, and were therefore able to take full advantage of the wave of purchases during the Christmas period. Many voices were raised to ask for their reopening, reading proving to be a psychologically valuable activity and in great demand when other cultural activities are stopped. According to the union’s estimates, during the second confinement, sales authorized to booksellers, by mail order and on their doorstep (“click and collect”), provided up to 10% of turnover achieved in normal times.