The wind and rain may have died down in New York City, but the metropolis is far from recovered. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which has left thousands throughout the tri-state without power, many publishers are struggling to get their systems back online, and some are reporting issues at their warehouses, as well.
On Tuesday we offered a status update on what companies we heard were open--almost all in New York City were closed--and we are attempting to provide further details on operations for publishing businesses throughout the area. As with Tuesday's report, we will be updating this list throughout the day. If you have information to share, please contact Rachel Deahl on Facebook, tweet us @PublishersWkly or add a note to the 'comments' section.
The Big Six:
Random House is open, but its Maryland warehouse was closed on Monday through late Tuesday evening. A spokesperson for the publisher said the building (and the books it houses) did not suffer any damage, and that RH has approved overtime for employees to catch up on orders. The spokesperson said that RH does not expect any significant delays in getting orders to accounts.
Hachette is open, and its warehouse is fully operational.
Penguin's headquarters on Hudson Street remains closed Wednesday, but company email is working and the publisher's warehouse is open and shipping orders. Penguin also has customer service reps in its Old Tappan office.
HarperCollins is currently closed, but a spokesperson confirmed that its warehouse is operational.
Simon & Schuster's Manhattan office is open and, after being offline, its New Jersey warehouse is open, but not fully operational, a spokesperson said. The company is making limited shipments while it looks to restore its data center to normal operations.
We were unable to reach Macmillan by press time, though its Flatiron Buildling offices are within the zone without power, so they are presumably closed.
Other Publishing Companies:
Scholastic's office is currently closed.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's New York City office is closed and without power, but its Boston office is open. A spokesperson for the publisher said the company's warehouse was not affected by the storm but "obviously all shipments to the East Coast are."
The Experiment, which is in midtown, is open, but a reduced staff is in the office.
Abrams's office is closed, and both its email and phone systems are down.
Trident Media Group's office is closed and without power; both its email and phone systems are down.
Harlequin's New York City office has no power and is closed, but company email is working.
Warehouses:
Since many publishers' warehouses are in the Midwest, Hurricane Sandy has posed little problem, although it can still be challenging getting shipments into parts of the Northeast. Before the hurricane hit, a number of warehouses were forced to close on Monday, but are now open for business, including TriLiteral in Cumberland, R.I., which handles orders for Yale, MIT, and Harvard University Presses. Fortunately, given the upcoming election, this was not a big week for new releases.
Parts of New Jersey continue to be a question mark. Both Barnes & Noble's fulfillment center and Baker & Taylorâs facility in Bridgewater, N.J., are open for business. Bookazine in Bayonne, NJ, appears to be closed. Its phone lines are down, and it did not respond to e-mailed status requests.
Although the storm came close to National Book Network's warehouse in Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., it never lost power. "We were very fortunate," says NBN head Jed Lyons. However, the company's New York City offices on 18th Street are currently closed.
Ingram had a brief interruption in its business due to power outages, but is currently up-and-running in its Chambersburg, Pa., distribution center, as well as its Allentown, Pa., print-on-demand center.
