Thursday, March 15, 2007

L.B. May Purchases Nashville Remainder Show

by Edward Nawotka, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 3/14/2007

L.B. May and Associates, owners of the Spring Book Show in Atlanta, has purchased Nashville's five-year-old Onboard Remainder Book Show from founder Larry Austin for an undisclosed sum. "We purchased the show because we felt we had economies of scale to do it right and it offered us an opportunity to enter into a new market," explained Larry May, president of L.B. May and Associates.

The show will be relocated to Atlanta, where it will take place from August 10-12 at the Georgia World Congress Center, the same location as the Spring Book Show set for later this month. Both shows focus on the sale of remainders, though the summer show will add sidelines. The summer show is also likely to be 20% smaller than the Spring Book Show, reducing the number of tables available to vendors from 530 to 430.

The still-to-be named show will take place a few months before the big CIROBE event. "A lot of retailers and vendors feel CIROBE is just too late in the season to get books into stores for Christmas," said May. "The Onboard Remainder Show was originally called the Onboard Remainder Christmas Show, specifically so people knew they could come in and get their product in time for Christmas. With this second show, we aim to sell to booksellers who want to get their bargain stock in time for the holiday shopping season."

May is inviting interested parties to suggest names for the relaunched event. The winning name will be selected by May and the new event will be christened on the first day of the show. The individual who submits the winning name will receive a grand prize that includes air fare, hotel accommodations, dinner and a skid of books. Three runners-up will be given a free skid of books.

No comments: