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Starting in January, Costco's once year-round department could become a seasonal department.
The New York Times reports that Costco's famous book table may no longer be a standard feature in U.S. stores starting next year and will not return until around the holiday season from September to December.
Although Costco had not announced the change as of press time, four executives from major publishing houses shared the news with The Times on Wednesday.
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The sources said Costco made this change because it takes a lot of labor to restock the table so it's always stocked with relevant books. Costco employees have to stock the books by hand, making the layout of this department more time-consuming than others.
The rapid book turnover is also labor-intensive: every week, employees have to return unsold books and refill the inventory.
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The change could have a noticeable impact on book sales: Costco orders books in large quantities, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands.
The book department of Costco on May 4, 2006. (Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images)
Customers praise Costco's signature book table for offering guests a moment of relaxation and finding great deals on box sets.
Some even say that the prices and selection in Costco's book department are better than Amazon's offerings, even though Costco's single-story library is much smaller than Amazon's extensive digital catalog.
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Although Costco may soon stop selling books regularly in the United States, the change has already been implemented in two U.S. states, Hawaii and Alaska, for years.
Due to logistical issues and declining sales, Costco stopped selling books in these states in 2022 after stocking them for over 30 years.
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