QBD’s Broadway opening a real hit

Bookseller QBD has taken over a former high-profile Dymocks site as it closes in on its target of 100 stores around the country.

QBD Books chief exectuive Nick Croydon. Pics Tara Croser.

Who said the bookshop was dead? Brisbane-based QBD is continuing its mission to reach 100 stores nationally, announcing the takeover of the former Dymocks store in Sydney’s iconic Broadway Shopping Centre.

QBD boss Nick Croydon says that despite traditional bookstores facing a raft of challenges, the firm has expanded its network from 55 to 86 stores in the last seven years. “We’re proud to be a flagbearer for bricks and mortar bookstores, and in many locations we’ve been able to come in and ensure books have a continued presence in the community,” says Croydon.

Croydon says there’s no question that traditional bookstores face tough times and in the last decade nearly half of all stores have closed. In 2013 there were 2,879 book stores nationally but today there are only 1,473.

The English-born executive knows the book trade back to front, spending years as a young man 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.

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

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

Croydon says the Broadway location is an exciting one for QBD because of its proximity to some of Australia’s best universities - including the University of Sydney and University of Technology Sydney - and the avid readers amongst their student and lecturer populations.

Croydon says that at 500 sq m, more then double the size of its usual outlet, the Broadway store was set to become the company’s flagship. The store is scheduled to open next month.

Fantastic plastic

Heritage Bank is going green on expired credit cards. Heritage customers can now visit their local branch to recycle expired or cancelled Heritage Visa credit or debit cards, instead of cutting them up and throwing them away. The cancelled and shredded cards will be sent to TerraCycle®, which specialise in recycling hard-to-recycle materials – like plastic cards. Heritage and People’s Choice chief executive Peter Lock says that instead of seeing old cards potentially ending up in landfill, the bank saw an opportunity tto reduce its carbon footprint and plastic waste.

Heritage and People's Choice CEO Peter Lock

Marketing hire

Digital marketing firm Constant Contact has hired Brisbane-based Renée Chaplin as its new vice president of Asia-Pacific. Chaplin says she is already on the hunt for talent, looking for people to join the company in sales and customer success roles as its declares Brisbane its APAC headquarters and expands across the region.

Chaplin brings over 20 years’ experience at companies including Cloudscene, Zuuse, CSG and LivePerson. Her appointment follows Constant Contact’s acquisition of Australian sovereign email and SMS marketing platform Vision6 last year.

Renee Chaplin will lead growth in Asia Pacific