Looking back to our proposition, as mid market booksellers, pitched somewhere between Waterstones and W. H. Smith, that has proved to be very successful. Increasingly also we find ourselves stocking some, what we call inelegantly, 'non-book products', which is any merchandise which dovetails in with a book property, such as calendars, stationery, cards, tapes, toys, soft toys and that sort of thing. When we have concepts like Pokemon, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings, then we are finding that mixture of merchandise is very successful, but never to the extent that we will become a variety store. Our proposition is very much as a bookstore first and foremost, and non-book products will never form more than 5% of sales.
TWST: Who would outline as being your major competitors within this space?
Mr. Knighton: Well in terms of how the market breaks down, it's a market of about £2 billion, and of that Waterstone's has about £400 million, W. H. Smith has about £350 million, although clearly that is more of a variety store, we are at £120 million and Borders/ Books Etc is about £100m. In terms of our competition therefore, Waterstone's overlaps with us in about 14 towns out of the current 86 and W. H. Smith overlaps in all bar one or two.
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