With the coronavirus steadily spreading around the globe, the first sign of things to come was the postponement of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in February. The fair was supposed to take place from 30 March to 2 April, and was initially rescheduled for 4 to 7 May this year before being called off completely on 11 March. The London Book Fair, which was to run 10 to 12 March, announced on 4 March they were cancelling until 2021. This left many South African publishers who regularly attend the fair either stuck in London or forced to cancel their travel plans. Those who had travelled faced 14 days of quarantine upon their return.
While SAPnet reported an 8,6% decline in sales in week 12 of 2020, some bricks-and-mortar booksellers saw a more significant drop in the first two weeks of March. Bargain Books reported a double-digit decline in sales over this period, with shoppers steering clear from malls. After the lockdown announcement, however, sales started going through the roof as customers stocked up on fiction, games and puzzles to see them through the 21-day period. According to owner John O’Sullivan, March numbers will be carried by the sudden spike in sales, but April will be hit hard while stores shut for lockdown. ‘It’s going to have a massive impact…we don’t know what position landlords are going to adopt, whether they will charge us rent for the period. We’re obviously going resist that, but if landlords are unreasonable, it’s going to be difficult.’
Van Schaik’s saw similar declines over the last two weeks. Melvin Kaabwe expressed concern about the year ahead, with ‘academic book retailers already trailing last year by 30 – 40% even before corona’. Digital sales have not picked up the slack, with a lack of consistent adoption one of the main reasons, according to Kaabwe: ‘Even in one university you would find a multiplicity of platforms.’
Griffin Shea at indie bookshop Bridge Books reckons they can survive for the next month, even with doors closed. ‘We’re lucky that we had a few large orders last month that will cover our overhead for a bit, and on the non-profit side we got a small grant that will keep it running for a few months. It’s quite tricky to juggle everything, but we’re all in this together, and at least we’re not in the US.’Takealot expressed hope to keep trading during the lockdown period, but with most wholesalers closed from 27 March to 16 April, it seems unlikely customers will be able to order books online.
An empty Sandton City mall, pictured on 16 March (Photo by Derick-Louw Smit)
