The Little Group, the parent company of Gardners, the U.K.’s largest book wholesale and book distribution company, has opened Gardners US, a new distribution company based in Hialeah, Fla. The company will provide a wholesale service, offering 200,000 titles from British publishers for delivery within 3-5 days. Those U.S. bookstores that already have accounts with Gardners UK and/or its affiliate, All Media Supply, will be able to combine accounts to streamline ordering.
The opening of a U.S. branch is the latest move by The Little Group to expand its presence in the book wholesale business. In 2020 it became the parent company of the U.K’.s dominant wholesale and distribution company when it purchased the assets of Gardners's main rival, Bertram Group, and earlier this year it bought Baker & Taylor's U.K. division. In the U.K. Gardners has a catalog of about 5.5 million book, music and film titles and 2.8 million e-books.
Gardners US, which has roughly 120 employees, will be oversee by Nigel Wyman, sales and marketing director for Gardners. Though it is currently offering 200,000 British books, Wyman told PW, "our intention is to expand the books offered over the coming months."
The Little Group's move into the U.S. comes about one month after Ingram Content Group confirmed reports it was opening a wholesale business in the U.K. In addition to competing in the U.S. with Ingram, which distributes numerous U.K. publishers through its Consortium Book Group, such as Gallic Books, Fitzcarraldo Editions, School of Life and and Saqi Books, Gardners US will also be competing with IPG's Trafalgar Square publishing subsidiary, which distributes titles for a number of British publishers.
