From the moment Livraria Cultura acquired Fnac Brazil’s 12 bookstores last July (along with its e-commerce site) there was a question mark hanging over the stores – Livraria Cultura had long intimated intent to be a tech company rather than a bricks & mortar retailer, and was struggling for cash.
Despite this, a joint statement spoke of how the two companies, by
Sharing similar cultures and commitment to the promotion of culture in Brazil (would) allow Livraria Cultura to diversify its business by adding new lines of products and services.
Fast forward a year and we know just how that commitment panned out. By April Livraria Cultura had already closed most of the Fnac stores, and what remained were hanging on by their fingertips.
In May four Fnac bookstore were shuttered, with another closure in June.
At the end of July, as TNPS reported here via Brazil’s PublishNews, the German ebook distributor Bookwire halted ebook delivery to Livraria Cultura due to non-payment of royalties.
Germany’s Bookwire halts ebook supply to Brazil’s Saraiva and Livraria Cultura for non-payment
In August Livraria Cultura announced its 2020 plan to derive 80% of the company’s revenues from its digital channels.
Then just a week ago PublishNews reported another four stores closing, leaving just two.
Now came news today that Sao Paulo’s Avenida Paulista bookstore has closed.
With this, reports PublishNews,
Goiânia is the only square where there is still a store of Fnac in the Country.
Whether that will survive the purge is anyone’s guess.
Livraria Cultura continues to operate the online bookstore of the same and the Fnac Brasil online store it acquired last year.
