During the past year, Canadian publisher and distributor Fitzhenry & Whiteside has been carefully growing its distribution services in the U.S. Beginning in January, just months before its longtime U.S. distributor, General Distribution Services, declared bankruptcy, the Markham, Ont., company took over U.S. distribution of its adult and children's lists.
Soon afterwards, F&W hired Josie Lahey, formerly with London Bridge and Stoddart, U.S., as director of sales and marketing, to oversee the U.S. market. By summer it was ready to take on its first U.S. clients, all of which had previously been represented by GDS. At present, most of F&W's client lines have headquarters in Canada: children's book publisher Coteau Books; recreation guides publisher Johnson Gorman Publishers; Pokeweed Press, specializing in picture books for ages 4—12; and Red Deer Press, a publisher of literary fiction, nonfiction and children's titles. F&W also added Stoddart Kids, which it purchased in early August, and U.K. publisher Telos Publishing Ltd., known for its horror, cult-TV and Doctor Who titles.
Early on, F&W decided to retain the same commission rep groups that Stoddart had used in the U.S. and to set up a toll free number (800-387-9776) for U.S. customers. Warehousing is handled by WA Book Service in Hauppauge, N.Y. A major test for F&W's systems won't come until January, when U.S. sales representatives begin selling the spring 2003 list. Because of GDS's bankruptcy, many of F&W's clients were forced to postpone their fall titles, so the company has been handling mostly backlist sales for them.
For now, said Lahey, "U.S. distribution is going very smoothly. We plan to add distribution clients when we find publishers whose lists complement what we are doing. We don't have a target number, and we will be looking for clients outside of Canada. I am very confident that we will have good growth for our client publishers as well as our own imprints."
At the same time, F&W has been focusing on its Canadian distribution business. It currently represents nearly 20 publishers, including Walker & Company, Lyons Press and Beacon Press. In January, F&W will assume Canadian distribution for its U.S. clients. Earlier this fall, it began distributing XYZ Publishing, which does the Quest Library series of Canadian biographies, in Canada. It will represent XYZ to the U.S. trade in the spring.
