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Angus & Robertson

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Angus & Robertson is a bookstore chain in Australia. Its first bookstore was opened in 110½ Market Street, Sydney by Scotsman David Angus in 1884; it sold second-hand books.[1] In 1886, he went into partnership with fellow Scot, George Robertson with whom he had worked earlier.

Bookselling history

In 1895 the company moved to 89 Castlereagh Street, Sydney. The head office of the firm was at Castlereagh Street until the 1950s. The shop was known as the "biggest bookshop in the world".[2] In 1907 the partnership was converted into a public company - Angus & Robertson Limited. In 1938 A&R opened a publishing office in London, and in 1951 a store was established in Australia's High Commission in London, which operated until the 1970s. In the 1950s, Angus & Robertson began the growth which led it to become Australia's first nationwide chain of bookstores. In 1977, it opened its first franchise store in the Sydney suburb of Hurstville. In 2006, the company has over 170 stores spread throughout the country, it claims that it has more than twice as many stores as Australia's next largest bookseller.[3] The number of stores has doubled since 1982.[4] The brand name is recognised by 96% of the Australian population.[4] The firm has approximately 18% share in the Australian book retail market.[5]

Publishing history

Angus and Robertson began publishing in 1888. Their first work was book of verse, A crown of wattle, written by a Sydney solicitor, H. Peden Steel.[1] As a publisher, Angus & Robertson has played a role in shaping Australian literature by publishing works by significant Australian authors such as Banjo Patterson, Henry Lawson and Norman Lindsay.

In the early years of publishing to 1900, Angus and Robertson developed a successful marketing formula and mix of products: they established a pattern of literary publishing together with educational publishing.[6]

Angus and Robertson published the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 edited by Charles Bean.[1]

Ownership

Since 1978, the publisher has been a completely separate company under separate ownership from the bookseller. Angus & Robertson publishers have been an imprint of HarperCollins since 1989.[2]

Angus & Robertson is the owner of Reader's Feast, a large bookshop in the Melbourne CBD, which doesn't run under its parent company's logo.

Ownership of the company changed several times since the 1970s. In the 90's, the company was owned by Gordon & Gotch (Newsagent Supplier/Publisher) followed by the purchase by Brashs (Home Entertainment Chain) who refitted many of the stores and merged Bookworld (A Queensland Bookchain) with A&R to increase the overall size (For several years the company went by the name Angus & Robertson Bookworld before eventually dropping Bookworld as part of the name). Ownership of the company then passed on to whitcoulls (New Zealand chain) which was itself later purchased by W H Smith (who sought to introduce the W H Smith brand into Australia), the most recent change being the 2004 sale by W H Smith, who had owned the company since 2001.[2] The current owners are Pacific Equity Partners.

Demand for Payment from Smaller Publishers

A & R Whitcoulls Group's commercial manager, Charlie Rimmer, sent out a letter demanding payments ranging between $2500 and $20,000 (with claims by some reports of as much as $40,000 and $100,000 being unconfirmed at the moment) from smaller distributors and publishers to make up for reduced profitability compared to other suppliers.

The letter (Including a 5% per day interest rate as well as a requirement for a % rebate on all sales for the year should A&R do $1 over last years sales)[7][8], leaked by Tower Books to the public, claimed that if the payment was not made, the books from the supplier would no longer be sold in A&R stores. This caused upset in Australia's book publishing market. Many publishers have expressed a disbelief at Angus & Robertson's decision, with Tower (Supplier of the Miles Franklin Award winning book Carpentaria and such titles as Rich Dad, Poor Dad) declaring that they will withdraw supply for Angus & Robertson as per the letter's requirement (They can keep their money, we will keep our books). How many other distributors will follow in Tower's footsteps has yet to be confirmed, with at least one distributor (Walker Books, distributor of the children's book, Where's Wally? (Australian release of Where's Waldo?)) indicating that they are in no position to walk away from 182 stores.[9] [10] [11][12][13][14]

“This is an outrageous insult to Australian authors,” Executive Director Dr Jeremy Fisher said. “Only yesterday the Australia Council highlighted the parlous state of Australian literature in education. Now, the private-equity owners of Angus & Robertson, Pacific Equity Partners, are trying to bully their smaller suppliers into paying for the ‘privilege' of shelf space in Angus & Robertson-owned stores. They are hurting not only these publishers but also their authors. Angus & Robertson is stealing money from Australian authors, whose average income is only $11,000. Why, that's an amount which is probably even less than the daily income of the directors of Pacific Equity Partners.”

It is not clear if Angus & Robertson Booksellers have made the same demands on Angus & Robertson Publishing (Angus & Robertson Publishing is owned by Harper Entertainment, a major distributor within Australia).

References

  1. ^ a b c "Angus & Robertson / Archives (State Library of New South Wales)". Retrieved 2006-07-06. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ a b c "15. Q. I have a question about Angus & Robertson Publishers and 16. Q. What's the history of Angus & Robertson?". Frequently Asked Questions. Angus and Robertson. Retrieved 2006-07-06.
  3. ^ "About Angus and Robertson". Angus and Robertson. Retrieved 2006-07-06.
  4. ^ a b "Benefits of owning an Angus and Robertson Franchise". Angus and Robertson. Retrieved 2006-07-06.
  5. ^ https://www.pep.com.au/pages/content.asp?pid=3#3
  6. ^ Alison, Jennifer (1998). "Angus and Robertson, Publishers, 1888-1900". Paper presented to Second History of the Book in Australia (HOBA) Conference (1996). Australian defence force Academy. Retrieved 2006-07-07. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); line feed character in |work= at position 59 (help)
  7. ^ Sydney Morning Herald - A&R Dumps Books
  8. ^ Making Light: Bookstore chain puts the screws on small publishers
  9. ^ Brisbane Times - Bookshop chain puts bite on small publishers
  10. ^ Adelaide Now - Retail Risk put on Publishers
  11. ^ ABC News - Payment 'blackmail' angers publisher
  12. ^ ABC Radio National - The Book Show
  13. ^ Australian Society of Authors condemns Angus & Robertson
  14. ^ Wild & Wooley (Publishers & Literary Agents) - Boycott Angus & Robertson Co. Owned Bookshops


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