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Sameday sells shops

04.10.07 | Philip Jones

Samedaybooks, which owns the chain of bookshops known as Methvens, has sold two of its stores as it shifts its focus away from high street retailing to e-commerce.

The Petworth and Cobham stores were sold to their management this week. Managing director Kieron Smith, who joined from Waterstone's in September, said Sameday intends to focus on e-commerce rather than extending its chain of bookselling properties in the future. "That is where we see the growth happening. We are still behind our retail facility but there is a lot of competition in the high street, so we don't envisage opening more stores across the country."

Sameday opened a new branch in Chertsey last month, bringing its total number of branches to three including Worthing and Gosport. A year ago the company owned six bookshops. Smith said: "We want to retain our links with bookselling. Where we see the opportunity is in working with independents, where we can offer an online sales tool."

• Kieron Smith
• Philip Jones
• Samedaybooks