Living among books does not protect you from economic hazards. Since last spring, Emilie Grieu, founder of the Les Pipelettes bookstore in Romainville (Seine-Saint-Denis), has “ found several times uncovered from the tenth of the month “, she confides. “ It's new »specifies the energetic forty-year-old.
For the approximately 3,700 independent bookstores in France (out of 25,000 book sales points in total, including hypermarkets and motorway rest areas, according to the Ministry of Culture), the year 2024 will have been difficult. After the enthusiasm of readers for their neighborhood bookstore which became “ essential trade » during the Covid pandemic, sales stagnated.
Compared to last year, book sales fell by 0.9% between January and September 2024
According to the French Bookstore Observatory, they even show a decline with regard to books, excluding stationery (- 0.9% from January to September 2024 compared to the first nine months of last year).
For the smallest bookstores, those whose annual turnover does not exceed 500,000 euros, like Pipelettes, the situation becomes critical. According to a study carried out by the Xerfi firm, many of these businesses risk bankruptcy as early as next year. Unique in the world for the density of its network, crucial for social ties and territorial networking as much as for the circulation of ideas, this sector like no other suffers a formidable scissors effect.
Increase in charges
On the one hand, costs have increased considerably since 2021. Energy in mind. The largest independent bookstores, the most expensive to heat, saw their electricity bills rise by 150%.
Unlike bakers, other traders “ essential », book couriers have not benefited from capped prices. Result ? Like many SME owners, booksellers sometimes have the impression of “ work for Engie “, says Amanda Spiegel, at the helm of Folie d'encre in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis) and vice-president of the French Bookstore Union (SLF).
In addition, the increase in prices at the pump has an impact on transport costs (+13% since 2021) provided by booksellers: it is up to them to pay for the delivery of ordered books and the return of unsold books to the distributor. .
And that's not all. As independent pharmacies are most often located in city centers, they are also subject to increased rents, a major expense. On the Romainville plateau, a popular district in the process of gentrification, Emilie Grieu must pay 3,000 euros monthly for 70 square meters of sales space on the ground floor and a basement of 30 square meters.
As for the staff, generally underpaid, it was necessary to increase it (+10% of payroll) to keep up with inflation and reach in 2024 the average salary of 1,720 euros net, more than modest for passionate and cultured graduates. .
However, in independent bookstores, payroll represents a larger part of the budget (around 20% instead of 14% at Fnac, 10% in supermarkets, 5% on Amazon). Normal: advising customers, highlighting little-known titles and inviting authors requires time and skills. “ It's crucial », summarizes Emilie Grieu, who employs Cécile, an experienced bookseller on a permanent contract, and a work-study student, Alexis, an apprentice bookseller and a keen reader of the humanities.
However, on the other hand, prices do not follow. Set by publishers under the Lang Law of 1981 on the “single book price”, they will only increase by 2.2% on average in 2024. This law also has the immense merit of protecting the bookstore ecosystem independent of competition from large stores, thus preserving editorial diversity.
The discounts granted by publishers to booksellers, around a third of the sale price, are no longer enough. Margins are shrinking
The problem is that the discounts granted by publishers to booksellers, around a third of the sale price, are no longer enough: “ You should get 38% to 40% », Estimates Emilie Grieu. Consequently, pharmacies' margins are reduced. This year, they do not exceed 1% of their average turnover. This is one of the lowest margin rates in retail, “ with florists ”, we are told.
Three times more than thirty years ago
Would books become perishable? From a logistical point of view, for sure. All categories combined, from school textbooks to cookbooks and novels, some 75,000 works are published each year, three times more than thirty years ago. And this, while at the same time, the population has only increased by 20% and the French do not read more.
Even if this abundance may demonstrate a welcome diversity in the reading offering, it follows that as soon as they reach the shelves, new releases must be replaced by even more recent works. “ We spend our time emptying and filling boxes », Testifies Anne Martelle. Editorial production accelerates to the point of nonsense:
« We don't have time to read anymore! exclaims his colleague Amanda Spiegel. Under these conditions, we can no longer make books known, we lose what makes the profession so exciting. »
This boom is also weighing on the sector's carbon footprint: ecology was one of the central subjects of the national bookselling meetings, held in Strasbourg last June. At the beginning of the year, the association of independent booksellers For the ecology of the book launched a “ truce of novelties », under the aegis of its co-founder Anaïs Massola, bookseller at Rideau rouge, in Paris.
Booksellers would have everything to gain from publishers publishing less, because the sustained pace of orders and returns weighs on their budget
Inventive, the participants refused certain titles according to deliberately disconcerting criteria (cover color, etc.). Will the initiative encourage publishers to publish (a little) less? Booksellers would have everything to gain, because the sustained pace of orders and returns weighs on their budget.
Diversity of cultural offering
And after? “ Already on the linewrite the Xerfi experts, the financial situation of bookstores (independent, Editor’s note.) could further deteriorate in the coming years “. From 2025, they specify, the smallest could suffer “ considerable losses » and bankruptcies.
This fragility threatens the diversity of the cultural offering in France, and also poses a political problem. In a difficult economic context, book couriers find themselves exposed to attacks from wealthy idea entrepreneurs close to the extreme right. In September 2023, Vivendi, Vincent Bolloré's group, acquired Écume des pages, a prestigious Parisian brand in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
The fragility of independent bookstores threatens the diversity of cultural offerings in France, and poses a political problem
This fall, another billionaire “ patriot » (sic) is interested in independent bookstores: Pierre-Edouard Stérin, at the head of the Otium Capital fund, finances the so-called “Périclès” project to the tune of 150 million euros for “ roots, identity » et « Christian anthropology ».
After having missed last year the takeover of the Editis group (Belfond, Julliard, Robert Laffont…) then, last August, that of the weekly Mariannehe posted an ad. He recruits an entrepreneur » in order to constitute within five years “ a network of 300 independent bookstores in French regions » who would organize « more than 5 000 local cultural events “. The objective? “ Reinventing the multi-activity bookstore model through a cultural offering serving families “. Cultural battle in progress.
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