Case Study: Waterstones vs. Kindle In 1982 Tim Waterstone opened his first bookshop on Old Brompton Road in London. Waterstones is presently one of the biggest book-selling chains in England. It operates 275 stores in the UK and Europe. Waterstones has some features that make it unlike any other book retailer. As the chain proclaims, "no two Waterstones bookshops are the same". Local market is what matters most, so the assortment of books differs in each shop, as well as their order, reflecting local trends and interests. Thу company is also famous by its services for customers, making the shops attractive places, where you feel comfortable enough to spend a lot of time. Many shops include dedicated areas to read and to relax. The company has its own brand, Café W, created instead of purchasing …show more content…
It’s not the very idea that is in the basis of their astonishment, but the rumors of negotiations between Waterstones and Barnes & Noble, the US bookseller, over using their Nook device. Although there are a lot of criticisms, as people look at this deal as a big win for Amazon Kindle and a lost for Waterstones, Daunt sees a lot of perspectives for the company in this collaboration, calling it a "digital revolution". "If they choose to read digitally, I have to become involved in that game," he explains, with obvious reference to the current trend of reading books on digital devices. Mr Daunt suggests the critics simply misunderstand his methods. "All that we have to do is encourage people to come into our shops and to choose the books," he says. "I don 't frankly care how they then consume then, or read them, or indeed buy them. But if you spend time in my shops, and you really enjoy it, and you come back more often and spend longer - you 're going to spend money in my