How Brisbane bookseller QBD built a $135m success story

An award-winning Brisbane-based retailer has gone from selling Bibles in the 1890s to being the biggest physical bookseller in the country – and it plans to open another 45 stores.

QBD Books chief executive Nick Croydon is opening six new stores every year saying the death of the printed book has been greatly exaggerated. Pics Tara Croser.

Nick Croydon says you should always judge a book by its cover.

The boss of Australia’s largest bookseller says a well-designed and engaging cover can mean the difference between a bestseller and a publishing flop.

The English-born chief executive of book retailer QBD spent years dragging suitcases of surplus books, known in the trade as overstock, around the world in an attempt to sell them at a discount to retailers.

“I would have one big suitcase full of book jackets and another with my clothes in it,” recalls Mr Croydon, who took the reins of QBD in 2016 and quickly expanded it to more than 80 outlets around the country.

“I was dealing in overstock books that could not be sold at full price, so you would be selling them heavily discounted. The old saying that you should never judge a book by its cover is not right in our industry – an attractive cover can make all the difference, whether it’s a dramatic picture on a thriller or a delicious-looking meal on a recipe book.”

An accountant by trade, Mr Croydon spent the early part of his career with Deloitte in London and Hong Kong before joining a publisher of electronic books in the 1990s.

“This was the days of CD-ROMs and we were competing with the likes of Microsoft,” he said.

Fast-forward a quarter of a century and Mr Croydon is head of a company that last year sold over $130 million worth of printed books.

QBD Books chief executive Nick Croydon is opening six new stores every year. Picture: Tara Croser

The brand traces its roots back to the late 1890s when the Queensland Book Depot was established by the Uniting Church as a business selling religious material.

“People have been telling me for more than 30 year that books are dead,” he said.

“But it is actually e-books that are in decline. Part of the enduring popularity of printed books is that they are relaxing – you can fall asleep with one of them in your hand.

“People also are concerned about the amount of time they and their children are spending looking at a computer screen.”

Mr Croydon was working in Spain when he was first approached by the then owner of QBD, who wanted to retire and was looking for a buyer.

The Australian book market had just gone through a tumultuous time with the closure of Angus and Robertston’s physical stores in 2011.

QBD had been one of his clients when he was selling overstock books, and he knew it was a profitable business. But Mr Croydon wasn’t so sure it would attract investors.

“A lot of people laughed when they heard we wanted them to invest in a book retailer,” he said, “But enough people are intrigued that this company that was founded in the 1890s to sell Bibles was making money.”

Mr Croydon brought together a syndicate of investors including JB Hi-Fi chief executive Terry Smart to take over the business.

He down played any similarities between the business operations of QBD and JB Hi-Fi but notes that both are “good at selling and staffed by experts”.

QBD’s selling strategy is simple but effective. It shuns trendy high-street locations, instead opting for major shopping centres with high foot traffic.

Strategically located displays of discounted books are located outside every store, targeting shoppers who often have no intention of buying a book. “They may be on the way to the supermarket or to buy a phone, but they will spot a book on the display by a top-selling author,” he said. “But instead of it selling for $32.99 we will have it for $13.99.”

Mr Croydon said that once in the shop the customer with his discounted book could be enticed with higher-priced books from the “latest” section.

“People might have never read a Stephen King novel in their life and are not prepared to pay full price, but will buy one at a discount,” he said. “If they like it they will go on to read his other books, and we have hooked another customer.”

That selling technique had paid off. Since Mr Croydon took over five years ago, he has added another 30 stores to the QBD network. QBD is now targeting regional towns which may not have a major bookstore.

“We recently opened in Hervey Bay and I have had customers come up to me thanking me for opening up in the town,” he said. There are plans to increased the network to 125 outlets with the company currently opening about six new stores every year.

COVID-19 lockdowns have proven a surprising boon for QBD with demand for puzzles, home schooling material and cookery titles boosting sales.

The company has seen its annual turnover climb 15 per cent to $135m with online sales more than doubling during the height of the pandemic last year.

The company won this year’s large retailer of the year at the National Retail Awards in recognition of its success in navigating the lockdown.

Mr Croydon said he had been leading the charge for books to be considered an essential service as the nation moves in and out of lockdowns.

“Not all customers have the skills to shop online and research has shown that a significant proportion of customers rely on advice in stores before making a purchase,” he said.