Berkeley Bookstore Gets The Aoyama Touch

[Mulboyne]

[floatr][/floatr]MercuryNews: Cody's bookstores sold to Japan firm
Two months after Berkeley's famed Cody's Books on Telegraph Avenue closed its doors, its owner has sold the two remaining stores in Berkeley and San Francisco to a Japanese book distributor. Yohan Inc., the Tokyo-based bookselling giant, acquired the stores on Fourth Street in Berkeley and on Union Square in San Francisco for an undisclosed amount of money...Cody's longtime owner, Andy Ross, will remain president and his wife, Leslie Berkler, will take over as vice president. "Yohan shares our commitment to independent bookselling,'' Ross said in a statement...Yohan was founded in 1953 and, according to Publisher's Weekly, is the largest distributor of English language books and magazines in Asia. The company owns 18 bookstores in Japan...more...

Yohan also recently bought and revived the Aoyama Book Center shops and opened a new store in Roppongi Hills a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if the one next to Roppongi station is still there but it used to stay open until 5:00am which made for an interesting set of customers.

[Mulboyne]

Aoyama Book Center opened a shop inside Shibuya's HMV but it is now set to close. There will be a sale from the 7th to the 17th of this month with up to 80% discount on stock.

[Charles]

MercuryNews: Cody's bookstores sold to Japan firm

Dead link, maybe the Merc moved the story. I searched the site but could not find it. I wanted to check it out, might that not be "Yaohan" instead of "Yohan?"

[Mulboyne]

...I wanted to check it out, might that not be "Yaohan" instead of "Yohan?"

It's Yohan...this is on their English page]Internationally famous book retailer CODY'S BOOKS announced today that it has been acquired by Yohan, Inc. "We are very excited about our partnership with Yohan as we begin our next half century. Yohan shares our commitment to independent bookselling. Working together we can extend our reach both locally and globally," stated Cody's owner Andy Ross. "Yohan's financial resources and international relationships will strengthen our existing operations, and will allow us to properly restock our shelves and offer the broad in-depth selection that customers expect from Cody's."
Cody's will retain both its Fourth Street store in Berkeley and its Union Square store in San Francisco, its extensive author appearance program, its school, library, and corporate book services, and its expert staff. Ross will remain president of Cody's Books, and Leslie Berkler will become vice-president, focusing on store operations, as well as rapidly growing off-site programs including book fairs, schools, libraries, and corporate sales. Cody's will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yohan.
Cody's, founded by Fred and Pat Cody in 1956, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Andy Ross acquired the business in 1977, and then opened a second Berkeley store in 1997 and a downtown San Francisco store in 2005. The flagship Telegraph Avenue store in Berkeley was closed earlier this year due to declining sales. Ross notes, "With Yohan's support, Cody's will continue to be both an essential voice in the community while exploring a number of growth opportunities around the corner and across the globe."
Hiroshi Kagawa, CEO of Yohan, says, "I've loved Cody's ever since I first visited the store in 1983." Founded in 1953, Yohan is the largest distributor of English-language books and magazines in Japan. "It is our ultimate mission to promote culture and communications worldwide," says Kagawa. Yohan also owns Berkeley's Stone Bridge Press, run by Kagawa's longtime friend and colleague Peter Goodman. "Hiroshi loves books," says Goodman. "Yohan and Cody's share a sensibility that venerates the written word."
Details of purchase

* Yohan will purchase all of Cody's stock and own 100% of company as an affiliate.
* Hiroshi Kagawa will become CEO and Andy Ross will remain president.
* Although Cody's will be a subsidiary company of Yohan, all employees of the Fourth Street Store (Berkeley) and Stockton Street Store (San Francisco) will be retained. Cody's will continue its writers events and book services for schools, libraries, and companies.[/QUOTE]

[Charles]

[quote="Mulboyne"]It's Yohan...this is on their English page]
Thanks, that was informative. I didn't know about Yohan, I figured this might have been one last vestige of the former Yaohan "empire."

[2triky]

great bookstore...went there during my college days.

[Mulboyne]

Captain Japan mentioned to me that Yohan has just declared bankruptcy and a quick look on Cody's website shows that the store closed its doors last month:

After 52 years, Cody's Books will shut its doors effective June 20, 2008. The Berkeley bookstore has been a beacon to readers and writers throughout the nation and across the world...The Board of Directors of Cody's Books made this difficult decision after years of financial distress and declining sales. According to Cody's president, Hiroshi Kagawa, "[It] is a heartbreaking moment .. In the spring of 2005 when I learned about the financial crisis facing Cody's, I was excited to save the store from bankruptcy. Unfortunately, my current business is not strong enough or rich enough to support Cody's. Of course, the store has been suffering from low sales and the deficit exceeds our ability to service it."

According to Shinbunka (Japanese), Yohan has liabilities of 6.5 billion yen while Yohan Book Service has liabilities of 5.4 billion. Book Off is rumoured to be willing to support Yohan Book Service - including Aoyama Book Centre - which, if true, would be the first time it involved itself with new book sales.

[Mulboyne]

Here's the Mainichi story:

Online competition drives foreign book seller bankrupt

A leading importer and seller of foreign books in Japan has filed for bankruptcy amid the prevalence of online sales of foreign books. Nihon Yosho Hanbai, known familiarly as Yohan, filed for bankruptcy at the Tokyo District Court on Thursday. The company has incurred 6.5 billion yen in debts. Also on Thursday, Yohan Book Service filed for court protection from creditors under the Civil Rehabilitation Law. The affiliate company, which runs Aoyama Book Center and Ryushui Shobo, has incurred 5.4 billion yen in debts. Established in 1953, Yohan sold a wide variety of books, from the general to the technical. The company had business relationships with about 150 publishers in about 20 countries -- most of them English-speaking nations. In September 1992, the company boasted annual sales of 9.638 billion yen. However, as online sales of books became more prevalent, Yohan's annual sales dropped to 5.563 billion yen as of August 2005. By November 2007, sales had plummeted to 3.125 billion yen. Bookoff Corp., a leading used book dealer, has shown interest in supporting the affiliate company Yohan Book Service.