Chitay-gorod will open 20-30 stores in the regions by the end of the year

Despite the general decline in the print media market in Russia and the tendency to close bookstores, the largest player, Chitai-Gorod, plans to increase the number of stores by the end of the year. It will open an additional 20-30 points, and outside the largest cities, where traffic in large shopping centers is reduced. It may be about capturing the audience of competitors: other market participants note that it is increasingly difficult for them to compete with the leading network.

Chitay-Gorod will open 20-30 bookstores by the end of 2023 in addition to the existing 729 points, Eksmo-AST told Kommersant and confirmed it in the network itself. Over the past year, she has already launched stores in the cities of Gubkinskoye, Nakhodka, Noyabrsk, and Nefteyugansk, Nyagan and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk are in the plans. Chitai-Gorod clarified that at the same time, not a single store was closed in 2023, the company does not disclose data for 2022.

The network launches stores against the backdrop of a drop in attendance at shopping centers, where Chitai-Gorod outlets are mainly located. “Traffic dipped against the background of fierce competition with marketplaces,” admits Sergey Laptev, head of the commercial real estate department at Chitay-gorod. “An additional difficulty in attracting people to the shopping center was the fall in cinema attendance.” But Eksmo-AST clarified that against the backdrop of falling traffic in shopping centers in large cities, the chain’s sales of books in regional stores increased by 4% in money in the first quarter year-on-year.

Book chains in Russia began to close stores during the pandemic: at the end of the period of self-isolation, 40% of outlets in the country did not open (see Kommersant dated May 25, 2020). Then the Respublika chain abandoned its own stores in favor of a franchise (see Kommersant dated November 19, 2020). The situation worsened after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine: attendance at bookstores decreased, and the cost of books increased by an average of 25% (see Kommersant of March 11 and October 5, 2022).

As a result, there is a “desperate shortage” of bookstores in Russia, especially in small towns, says Vladimir Kharitonov, former head of the Association of Internet Publishers: “No matter how online sales grow, the bookstore will remain an important part of the entire book distribution system for a long time to come.” According to the Chitay-gorod-Bukvoed, Book Labyrinth and regional booksellers networks, book sales through stores account for 53.4% ​​of the market, or 39.96 billion rubles.

But Mr. Kharitonov calls Chitay-gorod’s strategy of launching “the same stores with the same set of books” “weak.” According to this principle, he says, the American chain Borders worked, which in 2011 announced the closure of 226 stores and bankruptcy: “The chain needs to develop the autonomy of stores, attract qualified personnel who know books and know how to tell readers about them.” He cites the strategy of the British Waterstone as an example: “Its CEO abandoned the mandatory (marketing) display, gave freedom to each store on orders from the warehouse.”

Today, many small bookstores are forced to close because they cannot compete with large chains, Kommersant’s interlocutor in the publishing market adds: “The cases with Khodasevich, Tsiolkovsky, Falanster (independent bookstores located in the center of Moscow.— “b”) are unique. Many bookstores simply cannot afford to pay high rents and are forced to move online.” According to him, they cannot afford to open in the regions, competing with Chitai-Gorod. Market participants confirm the problem. Tatyana Larina, co-owner and commercial director of the Amital bookselling network, notes that other players are also “outraged when exclusives appear in Chitai-Gorod earlier than others – this should not be.”

Julia Yurasova