Bye Bye Ottakars

Published by

Eoin Purcell

July 7, 2006

As Galley Cat on mediabistro and Publishing News report Ottakar’s will cease to exist as a brand following the HMV merger. All of the chains stores will be rebranded as Waterstones which I find a little disappointing.

Publishers should take note, as they no doubt already have, of the almost throwaway paragraph and quote in the ~~Publishers~~ Publishing News piece:

For publishers, a programme of terms harmonisation is about to begin and Johnson promises one Christmas campaign across the enlarged business this year. “On terms, yes, we do expect to get a saving out of it, but what’s more important is giving publishers a more potent route to market for their books. Every supplier has terms set up with Waterstone’s or Ottakar’s, or both – we want just one terms register, which is simpler for everyone, and the sooner the better.”

A narrowing of the market yet again and what is worse I have no faith that Waterstones will be invigorated by this purchase. I really do hope it works however and wish them the best.

15 responses to “Bye Bye Ottakars”

Cas Stavert

July 8, 2006

As a book buyer all I can see coming from this is increased homogenisation, and a decrease in the number of places that stock the sort of books I like to read. Ottakars were good because there was likely to be some difference between the various stores. All Waterstons seem to be the same, and stock the same books.

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eoinpurcell

July 8, 2006

Sad but true! I really thing you are right but wish it were not the case

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jim hall

July 12, 2006

Am journo covering – amongst other things – the Waterstone’s/Ottakar’s merger. Have you heard anything from inside the industry about how Ottakar’s staff have taken to their now owners? Or any edicts that HMV has issued from on high? I gather the chains will be “crunched together” by Xmas – ambitious by any stretch.

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eoinpurcell

July 12, 2006

Not a peep yet but I suspect the whole thing will be rather brutal. In one way its for the best (At least from Waterstone’s perspective) but I agree a very ambitious target!

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Flossie

July 14, 2006

As an ex-employee of both companies I have to say my heart has sunk mightily on behalf of Ottakars…

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Andrew jones

July 16, 2006

yes it’s brutal. apparently the head offic discovered the news about the rebrand via the press, and the news that their deals and promotions were now null and void via a publisher. redundacny notices look like being a formality. a very sad end

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jim hall

July 19, 2006

Oh dear! That Ottakar’s heard about all that through the press and publishers is awful. Typical tho. As former employee(s) of the company/ies, what would you ask the MD of Waterstone’s about the process, if you had the chance….?

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Ottakar’s Fan

August 2, 2006

As a current employee of Ottakar’s, certainly in our store, we were informed of the takeover bid by our managers, and although there was interesting reading from the press, the level of communication internally was excellent. Although it is sad that Ottakar’s will become Waterstones, in reality and the long term this had to happen, or Ottakar’s would not have been able to continue trading, which would have been more devasting! Never the less, even if there is gold writing above the door, the people will remain with the same quality of friendly customer service. Perhaps Waterstone’s could learn a thing or two from the culture of Ottakar’s?

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eoinpurcell

August 3, 2006

Perhaps so,

Thanks for the comment! I guess that Ottakars could not have stayed independent doesn’t make its charm any less real and thus make most people somewhat sad at its dissappearance.

You are right though! We should look for positive changes over the coming months!
Eoin

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Strange rumbles: Blackwells & Ottakars « Eoin Purcell’s Blog

November 21, 2006

[…] At first I was puzzled but on consideration it reminded me of a similar scenario with a post I wrote on Ottakars several months ago. It has proven to be an enormous success and has drawn massive search traffic (massive at least in my terms) to the site. […]

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sian

December 17, 2006

this is going to affect people so,keep ottakars.

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sian ottakars fan

December 17, 2006

i love the books and they are good quality this is going to affect my life terrabily

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sian ottakars fan

December 17, 2006

save ottakars from this tragic event , i love ottakars as a child.DON’T CLOSE OTTAKARS DOWN!!!!!i hate waterstones to honest.what are we gonna do about xmas presents hey!

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sian ottakars fan

December 17, 2006

i love ottakars
save ottakars from this tragic mess

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Book babe

January 13, 2007

Id just like to add, to all of you out there who like me, enjoy reading and like ottakars much more than waterstones, there is still a brilliant ottakars store open in the promenade in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

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