A $22 million cash injection into Ireland’s biggest bookstore chain Eason in 2019 has helped the company acquire niche bookstore chain Dubray Books for an undisclosed sum, reports The Bookseller.
For now at least Eason and Dubray Books stores will continue to operate as separate brands, and Dubray’s CEO Maria Dickenson will join the Eason team.
Dickenson said of the buy-out of Dubray, which employs 90 people and annual revenue just shy of $10 million:
This acquisition will be positive for the Irish book trade, ensuring that Irish publishing can continue to flourish with the support of local Irish-owned booksellers with wide customer appeal like Eason and the specialist credentials of Dubray.
Our new common ownership will strengthen our ability to continue supporting and promoting local talent while continuing to meet the needs of our existing loyal customers.
For Eason, CEO Liam Hanly said,
As a specialist book retailer, Dubray reaches a different customer audience to Eason and the brand will therefore complement the wider Eason offering.
We are very excited by the potential to grow the Dubray business in conjunction with the continued development of the existing Eason retail offering in the coming years.
Back in 2013 Eason partnered with Kobo to sell ebooks – but chose not to renew its contract, and currently Eason has no digital titles on sale.
Past TNPS reportage on the Irish book market includes:
