Great London Fire: Waterstones to Sell Kindles – Shelf Awareness

Although Kindles are sold in a variety of bricks-and-mortar retailers, this is the first time that the e-readers are available in traditional bookstores. The deal is all the more striking because there were long-running rumors that Barnes & Noble was seeking to make a deal with Waterstones to sell its Nook in the company’s stores and because James Daunt, who was appointed managing director of Waterstones last July, has been highly critical of Amazon (Shelf Awareness, June 6, 2011).

Daunt told the Bookseller that the deal is a “no brainer” because the Kindle is the e-reader that most British consumers want. He added that Waterstones had waited too long to develop its own device and that negotiations with Amazon started only recently.

I was a little stunned when I read this article, simply because of the previous news of a B&N arrangement. However, Daunt makes a great point: UK buyers have had access to Kindles for years now – it’s only logical that the final brick-and-mortar chain sell Kindles as well.