To accelerate its European expansion, used and antiquarian online bookstore Alibris has acquired the assets of classicforum.com, a used and rare book listing service with offices in the U.K., Germany and France. The deal helps Alibris extend its reach abroad and gives classicforum.com dealers an expanded customer base if they decide to stay with the merged company.
Alibris (www.alibris.com), which sells directly to consumers, retailers and wholesalers on a private-label basis, opened a London office in July 2000 and has forged alliances with companies outside the U.S., including Canadian retailer Chapters, now owned by Indigo. Alibris president and CEO Martin Manley told PW that expanding globally is one of the company's key strategies. "That's what allows us to scale this business," he said.
