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The Works is heralding a revived "commitment to books" after appointing a new c.e.o. and celebrating pre-Christmas like-for-like sales growth of 12%.
Former m.d. Kevin Keaney, recently promoted to the position of c.e.o., said the book, stationery and toy retailer sold 10 million books in the last quarter to Christmas, and in the four weeks to 25th December increased like-for-like sales by 12%. Total sales for all products in the four weeks grew by 18%. Keaney said the company also had positive like-for-like sales in September, October and November.
"Books were absolutely at the forefront of our Christmas sales story," he said. "We made a decision after I arrived [in August] to make an extra commitment to books. We believe in our books heritage; they account for more than 50% of what we sell."
The chain's 304 stores are currently in the process of being revamped, with 120 so far completed. The company plans to create "flagship"-style stores out of locations like its Edinburgh Princes Street branch, in addition to running more campaigns around books.
"Waterstones has taken a more upmarket view, which is fine, but it has left a gap for us to do a really good job," Keaney said. "We are proud of our 12% sales boost, and going forward we want to be seen as great value, not cheap."
Since The Works re-launched its website in November, its online store has rocketed from being one of its bottom-performing 20 "stores" to being its top-performing store just two weeks ago, Keaney said. The e-commerce team, led by e-commerce director Nick Thomas, has grown from one to six since September, and the company is in the process of growing its online sales offer.
The Works—recently ranked seventh in the Times' Buyout Track 100 league table, which ranks Britain's top 100 mid-market, private equity-backed companies with the fastest-growing profits over the last two years—also plans to expand at a steady pace into new locations.
Keaney said The Works' book-buying team was "committed to building strong relationships with publishers", and added: "We are not going to be Waterstones, but customers love us. Between us we will all keep the book industry going. Books are going to be here to stay, and they are an important part of our future."