Waterstones rolls out 'Cuckoo' p.o.s. as stock hits stores

19.07.13 | The Bookseller news team

A 140,000-copy reprint of Robert Galbraith/J K Rowling's The Cuckoo's Calling (Sphere) was due to reach bookshops today (19th July), with Waterstones acting quickly to roll out bespoke point of sale across its stores (pictured).

The chain's spokesman Jon Howells said: "July is not usually a month for high-profile releases, so this is a welcome fillip. A front-page story about books is always good, but in a heatwave at a quieter time of the year, it is doubly so. This is the literary equivalent to David Bowie’s return earlier this year.” He added: “We don’t get surprises like this in the trade often enough. It reminds us how exciting the book world can be, and how it is still possible to do something under the radar.”

Other booksellers were also relieved that stock, which was unobtainable at the start of the week, would arrive in time for the weekend. Sheila O’Reilly at south London indie Dulwich Books said: “It’s always frustrating when customers are asking for a book that is being talked about and you cannot supply it for them. But I think that the turnaround from Sunday of a reprint, and stock being back into the bookshop by the end of the week, is impressive." She added: “The whole scenario is entertaining and it brings books back into the news.”

Kate Kay, joint manager at The Book House in Summertown, Oxford, said she had the book in stock. "We had some at the weekend when the news first broke and they went out, so we re-ordered, and managed to have a few come in on Tuesday. We have sold a couple of copies to people coming in and requesting it, and a few more to people passing through the shop – we have not had a huge amount of requests about it though."

However Vivian Bannerman of Mainstreet Trading Company in St Boswell's, Scotland, said she had not yet received The Cuckoo's Calling but was eagerly awaiting today's delivery. "I've been trying frantically to get some, there's been interest," she said. Keith Bradford, owner of the Thornbury Bookshop in Bristol, said: "I have put some on order this week, but I haven't had them in yet. There has been quite a lot of demand, a lot of people have come in asking about it. I don't know when they'll arrive, hopefully today or tomorrow in time for the weekend."
Little, Brown said: "Most stores should receive their books today".

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