With 54 bookstores in Bucharest, bookstore chain Compania de Librarii Bucuresti sells around 8,000 to 10,000 books a week, according to Petre Danila, head of the book division.
The company is supplied by 320 publishing houses.
It reported turnover of 32.4 million lei (EUR7.7 million) last year. Book sales contributed 48%, while stationery accounted for the rest of the revenues.
The bookstore chain is held by the association Compania de Librarii Bucuresti Pas (69%), financial investment company SIF Muntenia (9.8%), and a number of individuals, according to Trade Registry data.
Although the economy is returning to growth, this is not reflected in the sales of the bookstore chain.
“In the first three months of this year, book sales fell 18%, to RON3.7 million (EUR880,000),” Danila said.
“The crisis is still here, considering that sales saw a steeper decline in the first quarter of the year compared to the same interval a year ago,” he added.
Other bookstore chains on the market include Humanitas, Carturesti and Diverta.
Diverta has closed 13 stores and opened just two new ones since the beginning of last year. The bookstore chain, which posted EUR21 million in turnover last year, has 50 stores.
The Romanian book market fell by around 15% against 2009 when it
was valued at between EUR70 and 100 million, according to market
data.
A survey by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy
showed that more than half of book readers (52%) buy books that
come at market-down prices with publications (newspapers or
magazines).
Although books published in Romania are cheaper than those
published abroad, Romania ranks last in the European Union in terms
of book spending, with Romanians spending an average of EUR3-4 a
year on books.
“(…) Book spending is low compared to other countries. Now, when an interesting story comes along, people go to see the movie instead of buying the book,” Danila says.