International Update: Indigo Layoffs; Bertrams Closes

Canadian bookstore chain Indigo Books & Music laid off 5,200 of its 7,000-person staff, effective March 27. The company, which operates close to 200 locations across the country, had closed March 17 in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Although the retailer "had originally hoped to reopen its doors," Quill & Quire reported that it will remain closed indefinitely, while offering free shipping for customers until April 12.

Indigo staff had been fully paid up to March 27. Indigo spokesperson Kate Gregory said the company expects "to re-embrace as many as possible when this period of store closure is over."

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In the U.K., Bertrams is temporarily closing because the risk to staff during the coronavirus pandemic is "proving too great," the Bookseller reported. In a statement, Bertram Group CEO Raj Patel said he had "rather painfully" decided to close Bertram Books, Bertram Library Services, Dawson Books and Education Umbrella temporarily, effective April 1. Orders already in the system would be fulfilled where stock is immediately available.

"Nothing is more important than the safety and wellbeing of colleagues in my company who have worked tirelessly in these uncertain times to furnish books to our customers worldwide through their passion and enthusiasm for the book industry," he said. "While I had put in place measures to safeguard the spread of coronavirus across the seven different locations in which we operate including contactless deliveries with our logistics partners, the risk is proving too great.... New and emerging information will guide us through the coming weeks and months, and I will be in touch as soon as I can with information about resuming services and meeting the future need of our customers and book readers. Thank you for your understanding during these surreal times."

Patel added that the online business Wordery will remain running because it provides a significant public service, but he said the rest of Bertrams' business would only reopen when customers' premises started opening again: "We're just a distributor, we're only as good as the customer base."

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Bookshop and publishing house staff in Australia are among the workers who could be eligible for the federal government's A$130 billion (about US$79.2 billion) JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme, Books + Publishing reported that under the initiative, the Australian Tax Office "will pay affected businesses A$1,500 [about US$915] every fortnight to subsidize the wage of each worker employed at March 1, 2020. Businesses will be required to pay at least that amount to workers. The A$1,500 fortnightly payment will be available for full- and part-time workers, as well as sole traders and casuals who have been with an employer for 12 months or more."

Affected businesses are those that have suffered a drop in turnover of at least 30%, or 50% for employers with over $1 billion in turnover. The subsidy begins March 30, with first payments to be received by employers during the first week of May.

"This is absolutely necessary," said Australian Booksellers Association CEO Robbie Egan. "It could not have come soon enough. My only concern is it may be lacking in universality; it would be excellent to not exclude anyone, including casuals who have worked for a company for less than 12 months.

"That said, it's a huge step in the right direction. Small businesses such as bookshops are the lifeblood of the economy, and it's no secret that bookshops are incredibly labor-intensive: they employ a lot of people to do the physical work of getting books onto shelves and into customers hands and, proportionately, bookshops going under would destroy a lot of good jobs. So the longevity of the scheme is to be applauded.... Bookshops are the consumer-facing end of the whole publishing industry and any losses there would be damaging to the entire ecosystem as we're all in it together.'

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The Book Warehouse, Lismore, New South Wales, posted on Facebook: "Three years ago today, floodwaters raged through our beautiful shop. Our new owners Sarah, Richard and Wendy and our wonderful team of booksellers did whatever it took to help our business flourish again. And all the while our book loving community supported us.

"Now we are dealing with this horrible virus that has changed the world, and we are again adapting and changing the way we do things. Our website is up... we're offering free delivery in the Lismore area and we're always contactable on our Facebook page. Thank you for your continued support. Books will save the world!"

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