Bookseller thalia goes new ways

adminonApril 24, 2023May 1, 2023Leave a Comment

The german book trade is losing readers. In the past five years alone, he has lost around 6.4 million customers, according to data from the booksellers’ association borsenverein.

Germany’s largest bookstore chain thalia won’t stand idly by and watch the trend continue. Thalia boss michael busch therefore announced in dusseldorf a realignment of the chain, which operates nearly 300 stores in germany, austria and switzerland. Bookstores are to become much more of a meeting place than before, with cafes, reading areas and play corners for children, but also with a variety of events.

The bookseller hopes it will be able to compete more effectively with other media offerings from youtube to netflix, which are increasingly successful in vying for consumers’ scarce time. "One in four no longer reads at all. That’s what we want – and need – to change," said busch.

At the same time, booksellers are planning an unusually aggressive advertising campaign for reading books. Involuntary helper: U.S. President donald trump, not exactly known as a book lover. "Donald trump doesn’t like to read," is one of the slogans thalia is using on billboards and in TV commercials to reinvigorate the image of reading books. Others are "you can’t learn imagination in a youtube tutorial" or "there are more feelings than emojis".

The advertising campaign for reading seems quite necessary. According to a study published this year by the borsenverein des deutschen buchhandels, reading is increasingly losing its importance in society. The number of people who bought at least one book during the year fell from 36 million to 29.6 million between 2013 and 2017. The number of books sold annually has fallen by 37 million to 367 million in the past ten years. But because the "hard core" of book lovers was spending more and more money on their hobby, industry sales remained stable for some time.

"Our goal is quite clear: reading must become popular again and must not just be a luxury hobby of the educated bourgeoisie," busch demanded. He sees competition not so much from other booksellers, but from online services such as youtube and netflix, which are taking an increasingly large share of consumers’ time budgets.

Thalia is launching its campaign from a position of strength, busch stressed. The retail chain, which was struggling to survive just a few years ago, is "economically healthy" two years after it was taken over by a consortium of owners led by the freiburg publishing family herder. In the 2017/2018 fiscal year, which still has two weeks to go, the company has once again increased sales and earnings and will be debt-free by the end of september. Busch did not give exact figures.

In online bookselling, too, thalia believes it is on course for success despite the dominance of us giant amazon, which according to industry estimates accounts for between 50 and 70 percent of e-commerce business with books. The online share of sales is now just under 20 percent and is continuing to grow at a double-digit rate, reported busch. "Compared to the rest of the book trade, we’re flying high there."

Thailand's cavernous drama is crudely marketed

For a young man from the thai province, dom promthep has already been around last year. The 14-year-old from mae sai, a small town on the border with myanmar, has been to england, japan, argentina and the u.S.

In bangkok the king gave a gala in his honor. Soon, a film ("the cave") about his fate will be released in theaters. Netflix makes a series, disney a documentary. And they have even built a monument to him.

The fame comes from the fact that dom was U16 captain of the moo pah, the "wild boars", the soccer club of mae sai. At the 23. June last year, a saturday, he got on his bike with eleven other boys – all between eleven and 16 – and the supervisor (25) after practice. They drove to a cave and climbed in. Because the monsoon rains flooded everything, they could not get out again.

That was the beginning of 17 days of drama. When they were finally rescued after an unprecedented international relief effort, half the world rejoiced. It was already the almost perfect heroic story back then. Today, she is marketed as roughly as possible, with accents different from those of twelve months ago.

Thailand, which would have been lost without help from abroad at the time, has taken up the story. It’s not just about money – it’s also about image. No wonder: there hasn’t been such good news from the kingdom, where the military has ruled since a coup in 2014, in a long time. And since then not again, even if in the meantime was elected.

The focus is naturally on the children. The first weeks after the rescue from the tham-luang cave, the moo pah were still together. At first in quarantane in the hospital, then for two weeks in the temple, where they love to shave their heads according to buddhist rite. And finally together on tour: to FIFA, to manchester united, to talk shows in the USA. Three of the boys and the guardian, who had been stateless until then, received thai passports.

In the rough temple of their hometown there is now even a museum in their honor. The trainer now sometimes helps out there. In the museum, their soccer shoes are on display, as well as the backpacks they used to travel with and one of their bicycles. At the exit they all stand almost life-size in stone, with orange monk hikes and strangely enough also with blue hair. Dom, the captain, is the first to go, all the way to the right.

His mother, noi promthep, doesn’t quite know what to make of the worship. "I’m very proud," says the 42-year-old, who runs a laundry stand at the market. "He is doing well. But he does not come home so often anymore."Dom goes to boarding school in chiang mai, 250 kilometers away. At the school in mae sai, there are only five of the "wild boars" left. The sports field nearby, where they used to kick, is empty this evening.

School principal kanet pongsuwan says: "some are now at the age where they are becoming more rebellious. They go out more often and don’t play football so much anymore." But the boys were treated just like any other school children. But of course there is envy. Two of them have on instagram almost 150 each.000 followers. One would like to ask the "wild pigs" about all this themselves. But this is impossible. All requests for a meeting are blocked.

The fubballers and their parents have concluded exclusive contracts. Who gets to interview them is decided in bangkok. It is probably also a question of money. For the netflix series alone, each family is expected to pay three million baht (about 86.000 euros). However, so far, it is said under the breath, they have not seen anything of this. Dom’s mother only says: "I don’t like to talk about money."

The hollow itself has become a place of pilgrimage. All in all, already 1.3 million visitors were paid. A while ago, more than 10 people were killed in a single weekend.000 people there – although there is actually not much to see. The black hole that used to be used to get in is now closed off. A photo of the twelve boys and the trainer as well as a sign "restricted area" hang on the fence. Next year the cave may be opened again.

Another museum is to open soon in the vicinity. In front of it, there is already a monument to the man who is the greatest hero for the thai people: former navy diver saman kunan, the only fatality in the drama. The 37-year-old ran out of oxygen in the cave before the actual rescue began. At the monument, bronze wild boars scurry around his fube: one big one and twelve small ones. In front of it a group of female tourists lays down flowers.

One of them, siri meeratsamee, says: "i am so proud of him. And on my land. No one believed we could do it. But we made it."Then the woman buys a t-shirt with the portrait of the diver and a lottery ticket at one of the dozens of stands. You can die in the tham-luang cave. But you can also have a lot of luck there.

Even in the post-war period, it was still considered an important means of transport. In the sixties the bicycle was displaced by the car – those who could afford it now moved around by motorized means.

For about a decade now, however, the bicycle has been experiencing a renaissance, and especially since e-bikes and pedelecs have been on the market, more and more people are discovering their love of getting around on two wheels. In germany alone, the number of pedelecs more than doubled from 1.3 million to 2.8 million between 2012 and 2016. The market for electronically assisted bicycles has developed rapidly, and in a very short time a large number of new types of e-bikes with increasingly refined technology and elegant design and a high level of comfort have come onto the market.

Popular sport

In the region’s cycling communities, this boom is being experienced firsthand – this year even more than ever before. Cycling has long since become a popular sport, according to a survey of specialist retailers in the district. Jurgen schulz from the cycling store of the same name in neuenmarkt: "the cyclists have not become more, they are just riding more now because they have more time in the corona crisis. The normal cyclists, who have nowhere else to go because of corona, have taken their bikes out of the cellar or the shed again."

Many had then come to the conclusion, in view of ancient bicycles, that they should invest after all. "Many have invested the money that was actually earmarked for a vacation trip in a new bike instead. Most of the time it was an e-bike.

Radsport-schulz has been assembling bicycles according to the individual dimensions and requirements of its customers for 35 years. Bike-fitting is what they call it. A properly fitted bike, says schulz, makes you tired less quickly, reduces the risk of injury, relieves the strain on your joints – and thus also helps you perform better.

The right wheel for everyone

In the kulmbach uplands, the trammer cycling store is a good address for cyclists in the frankenwald region and beyond. The team consists of kurt trammer, who is in his element when it comes to selling bikes and is happy to pass on his knowledge to customers, and stefanie trammer, who is responsible for the commercial side of things and everything else that comes up in the store. The couple trammer took over the business in 2009 from the previous owners egon barth and ernst fischer. Kurt trammer: "we try to find the right bike for every customer, so that they can get on their new bike happy and satisfied. Biking is only fun with a well-fitted and adjusted bike." The enthusiasm for cycling is also felt at the trammer cycling store – and the customers appreciate it.

Well booked out

In kulmbach pays "el dorado" to the top addresses when buying bicycles. Managing director jorg geuther and his team are currently busy satisfying their customers: "we are fully booked with repairs and new purchases from morning to night. Our store is open from 10 a.M. To 6 p.M., but the men in the workshop are working from 8 a.M. To 10 p.M."

Are there spare parts?

Also at "el dorado the demand for e-bikes is currently unbroken, regardless of whether "mannlein" or not or "female". How much to spend on a good bike? "The lowest limit is around 2,500 euros", says jorg geuther. There are certainly spare parts for such bikes, and many of them can be repaired.

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