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Islington Tribune - by SUNITA RAPPAI
Published: 20 July 2007

Harry Potter and the price war

AN INDEPENDENT bookshop is urging Harry Potter fans to ditch the supermarkets and chain stores and buy the final instalment of the saga from them when it hits stores at midnight on Friday.
Nik Gorecki from Housmans Bookshop in Caledonian Road, King’s Cross, which has been selling books since 1945, said the price war over the eagerly-awaited new book had only one casualty – the independent bookstore.
While the JK Rowling tome has a recommended retail price of a hefty £17.99, many chain stores and supermarkets are expected to sell it at up to half that price – essentially at a loss - to lure customers in-store. Housmans is being forced to sell the book at its cost price of £11.99 to compete, keeping its profits to a minimum.
Mr Gorecki said: “We are urging customers to buy from us and help keep their independent bookshops alive.”
But a spokesman for Waterstones, which includes several branches in Islington said that the chain had decided on its price of £8.99 “very early on”.
He added: “A lot of our competitors are selling it at a similar price.”

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