Amazon will shut the proverbial online doors to its Book Depository retail store later this month, disappointing bibliophile’s around the world.
The announcement was posted on the Book Depository website and its Twitter account Wednesday for many unhappy readers to see.
“We are sorry to let you know that Book Depository will be closing on 26 April 2023.”
“From all of us at Book Depository we want to say “thank you." Delivering your favourite reads to you since 2007 has been a pleasure,“ the notice said.
According to the company, customers can still place orders up until April 26 at 12 noon.
The store will “continue to deliver your purchases and provide support for any order issues until June 23, 2023,” the notice said.
The UK based online book store was started by a former Amazon employee in 2004 and became an online respite for readers because of its accessibility and prices.
What made the book store unique was its free delivery to over 170 countries with no minimum purchase, a rare policy for most retailers today.
“Our vision is to provide “All Books to All” by improving range, access and affordability of books,” the company website states.
Amazon, who acquired the online retailer in 2011, said the decision was a cost-cutting measure.
On March 20, Amazon cut another 9,000 employees from its workforce - its second layoff since January 2023.
Ironically, Amazon started out as an online bookstore before it became a global marketplace for, well, pretty much everything.
Although the Book Depository has less than 100k followers on Twitter, almost four million users had viewed the announcement by Tuesday afternoon.
Loyal customers from around the world responded to news of the corporate closing, one after the other, on the social messaging app.
“This is an outrage!,” said one tweet. “Oh no!, so sorry to hear this!,” said another.
“Gutted to hear this. When you see how expensive Amazon is by comparison (with exorbitant shipping) you realise what a treasure Book Depository is,” one educator tweeted.
“Terrible news. I don't know any other bookstore with such a broad catalogue of books in so many languages, and such a good search. You've made it so easy to come across more books on any subject one is interested in. You'll be greatly missed. There's no equal,” tweeted another user.
Book Repository holds a catalog of over 20 million books, with office in the United Kingdom, Spain, South Africa, and East India. Its fulfillment centers are also in the UK, and Australia.
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