[Previous entry: "The Devil's Feather"] [Next entry: "The price of ego"]
01/11/2006: "Ottakar's"
We can at least be thankful that the proposed takeover of Ottakar's by Waterstones is being referred to the competition authorities (although I am doubtful of the outcome). From a consumer's point of view I have always found Ottakar's bookshops much friendlier, more relaxed places than the rather austere environs of their Waterstones equivalents. From a producer's POV, it seems to me that Ottakar's as an entity is interested in far more in the whole world of writing, as opposed to Waterstones which seems far more interested in promoting the bestsellers and celeb tie-ins. This is, of course, to a certain extent unfair, as Waterstones stocks a huge range of titles, but one must ask, do they promote them? It gives me huge pleasure to be introduced to the odd, the unusual, the whacky as well as the heavily (and expensively) promoted, and something of the delight of book-buying would be lost if Ottakar's and Waterstones became too similar.
Keith McCarthy on Wednesday, January 11th 2006 @ 07:41 PM GMT [link]