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Publishers and trade figures have broadly reacted positively towards the scrapping of Waterstone’s 3-for-2 promotion.

As The Bookseller revealed earlier today [31st August], the offer is expected to be scrapped in September and replaced by discount off individual books. It marks the end of arguably the most recognisable book offer, which has been part of Waterstone's for more than a decade.

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David Nicholls' One Day (Hodder) has broken the record for the biggest ever weekly sale from an adult-readership novel in the month of August.

Across all print editions, One Day sold 92,336 copies at UK booksellers in the seven days to 27th August, beating the previous record, set by Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol (Corgi) last year, by more than 15,000 copies.

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Waterstone's is bringing its iconic 3 for 2 offer to an end, with plans to implement money-off deals across individual books.

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Waterstone's concession in Harrods is to close, with the last day of trading understood to be 17th September.

Around 25 members of staff currently work at the store. Waterstone's is currently in talks with staff and a spokesperson said it would find positions for those who wished to stay with the company.

The space will be taken by W H Smith, with Waterstone's to be completely out of Harrods by 27th September.

Waterstone's has been trading in the central London retail institution for around 20 years.

Irish bookseller Eason is to hold talks at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) next week with staff facing a reported 10% pay cut and 90 jobs at risk.

The meeting will take place next Tuesday (30th August) in Dublin between Eason and unions Siptu and Mandate. Eason m.d. Conor Whelan has previously announced the company was seeking to make €8m in savings.

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A Dartmouth bookshop opened by the son of Winnie-the-Pooh author A A Milne is closing down after 60 years.

Harbour Bookshop on Fairfax Place was opened in 1951 by Christopher Robin Milne, the inspiration for the character Christopher Robin in his father’s famous Winnie-the-Pooh stories.

Milne owned the bookshop for several years before selling it to Bruce and Nicolette Coward. The shop has been owned by Rowland and Caroline Abram for the last 15 years.

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Spending on printed books slumped £1.1m last week, as the UK riots caused retailers to shut stores early and the public to avoid the high street.

Although bookshops remained largely unscathed during the rioting, spending slumped by 4% on the previous week, to £26.6m, and was down 9% (£2.6.m) on the same week last year. With digital books continuing to steal sales from traditional booksellers, spending on printed books last week hit a six-year low for the month of August.

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Amazon's move into publishing is a "concern" and the business is close to being in a monopolistic position, according to the c.e.o. of HarperCollins.

Victoria Barnsley was the latest book trade figure to appear on BBC Radio 4's "The Future of the Book" segment on "The World at One", broadcast today (16th August).

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Amazon.com has launched a free app enabling students to trade used textbooks, while Barnes & Noble has expanded sales of its Nook e-reader to more than 630 of its college bookstores.

Amazon Student, an application for iPhone and iPod touch devices, allows users to trade their old textbooks, plus videos, games and other products, in return for Amazon giftcards. The app offers instant price checks, whereby users will be able to scan barcodes from textbooks in a bookstore, to compare prices.

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UK e-book buyers are expecting heavier discounting on digital titles than their counterparts across the Atlantic, a new survey has found.

The survey, undertaken in April by consultants Simon-Kucher and Partners among 250 book buyers from the US, UK and Germany, concluded an e-book without additional features should cost around 65% to 70% of the print price, though admitted there was "no simple formula" in hitting the pricing sweet spot.

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Bookshops appeared to have been largely unaffected by the rioting that swept across London and other cities last night, causing tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage.

As London shopowners began the clean-up this morning, spokespeople for both Waterstone's and W H Smith said they were unaware of any damage to their store portfolio. Both retailers' management were meeting this morning to discuss the violence, which was largely targeted at electronics retailers.

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July retail sales saw a modest improvement, according to figures from the British Retail consortium, though book sales fell to their lowest level for seven years with food continuing to outperform non-food items.

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Waterstone’s branches in Enfield and Walthamstow have been closed to trading today after a wave of looting swept London over the weekend.

A spokeswoman said police had cordoned off the area to shoppers after the unrest, which began in Tottenham on Saturday following a peaceful protest outside a police station over the fatal shooting by police of local resident Mark Duggan on Thursday. Trouble spread through Wood Green, Enfield, Walthamstow, Oxford Circus and Brixton on Sunday.

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The owner of Living Oasis is in talks with a “third party” to buy the chain after he closed two of his four remaining shops.

Ray George, chairman of the Nationwide Christian Trust (NCT), which bought 19 former Wesley Owen bookshops in January 2010, said the stores were losing him too much money and he did not see a future in Christian bookselling in the current climate.

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Foyles continues its free book giveaway today (25th July), offering five titles free to children and teen readers.

The five Foyles London stores have been giving away the titles free over this weekend and today, the first weekend of the school summer holidays, with 3,000 books in total.

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Waterstone's is reintroducing central buying for both new books and replenishment but m.d. James Daunt insisted store staff would be able to order the books they want, when they want.

Managing director James Daunt made the announcement to staff in an email this afternoon, seen by The Bookseller. The announcement is understood to have been brought forward because of a story set to appear in the print version of this week's The Bookseller on Friday morning.

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Amazon.co.uk has launched a service allowing customers to trade in old textbooks in exchange for gift card credit on their Amazon account.

The UK e-retailer is allowing customers to send textbooks to Amazon free-of-charge, but they must feature on a specified list of 22,000 titles.

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French cultural product chain Fnac has announced a new five-year strategic plan to help lift flagging sales as consumer habits change and competition from the internet erodes traditional markets.
 
Called Fnac 2015, the plan includes the opening of 30 new stores in France, mainly on the outskirts of towns, and in countries where it is already present. At the moment, the group operates 152 outlets, of which 82 are in France and 70 are abroad in Belgium, Brazil, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.
 

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The Office of Fair Trading will not refer the merger of Bertrams and Dawson to the Competition Commission, it said today.

Smiths News Plc, which owns book wholesaler Bertrams, announced the £20m deal to buy Dawson Holdings in early June, and referred the merger to the OFT “given the size of the transaction” for its “own comfort".

Smiths News said it was pleased with the decision and is now asking Dawson shareholders to officially agree to the sale by 3pm on 2nd August.

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George R R Martin’s A Dance with Dragons sold 28,840 copies in just five days last week, becoming one of the fastest-selling fantasy novels since records began.

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The final death knell for Borders US sounded yesterday as the company said its remaining 399 stores would begin winding down in three days' time.

No bidders came forward to buy the 40-year-old American bookselling chain, so the company cancelled a bankruptcy auction planned for today (19th July).

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Borders could cease to exist by the end of next week although the retailer's lawyer said it has received other inquiries that could result in a takeover.

On Wednesday a committee of unsecured creditors rejected a takeover proposal by private equity firm Najafi Companies. They argued a court-supervised liquidation sale would be more beneficial to them.

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A claim that J K Rowling's fourth Harry Potter book plagiarised a work by author Adrian Jacobs may be thrown out of court by the end of today.

Paul Allen, trustee of the estate of Adrian Jacobs who died in 1997, has accused Rowling and her publisher Bloomsbury of plagiarising Jacob's book Willy The Wizard when she wrote Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He has been attempting to sue Rowling for £5m.

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The Booksellers Association has issued a last minute plea for independent booksellers to suggest titles for its 2011 Christmas catalogue.

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Widespread offers and Fathers Day failed to affect book sales falling in June compared to 2010, according to the British Retail Consortium.

Figures out today show total sales in the UK were up 1.5% last month in comparison to June 2010, when sales had increased by 3.4%. Like for like sales last month were down 0.6%.

The BRC said: "Book sales fell further below their year-earlier level, despite widespread offers, especially around Fathers’ Day." However, it added: "E-book readers were also popular as gifts."

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