Following the bankruptcy of its Canadian distributor H.B. Fenn earlier this year, Macmillan has reached an agreement with Vancouver’s Raincoast Book Distribution to handle sales and fulfillment for its titles to the independent bookstore, library, and specialty markets as well as for Costco Canada. Macmillan will directly sell to Indigo, Amazon and ID wholesalers. Farrar, Straus & Giroux will continue to be sold by Douglas & McIntyre in Canada.
Alison Lazarus, president of sales for Macmillan, said the company had considered taking on sales and fulfillment for all of Canada, but decided that the mixed approach was best. Macmillan will use in-house U.S. staff to call on the Canadian accounts. And in another twist, Macmillan will ship books directly to the larger Raincoast accounts located in the eastern half of Canada. The move, Macmillan said, will improve efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. The sales, billing and customer service for those shipments will remain with Raincoast. Macmillan will ship titles to Raincoast’s warehouse to meet the needs for its accounts in the western half of the country.
Both companies will begin transitioning immediately and Raincoast will be responsible for selling in Macmillan’s fall lists. Books will be available to ship from Raincoast in early July.
Lazarus said Macmillan chose Raincoast because of its “systems and reporting strength, adept and creative marketing, modern warehouse and network of award-winning sales representatives.” John Sawyer, CEO of Raincoast, noted that its partnership with Macmillan “sends a strong signal about the book market in Canada and the importance of Canadian customers.”
