Prague - In a week's time the Czech translation of the seventh and apparently final instalment of the Harry Potter series will go on sale.
This time, though, the usual pottermania will avoid supermarkets, as Albatros, the Czech publisher of the popular stories by JK Rowling, decided to give a preferential treatment to traditional bookstores.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will go on sale on midnight January 31, but it won't hit the hypermarkets' shelves before the end of February.
"The publisher will allow the sale of the seventh Harry Potter instalment in supermarkets and other sales channels outside the specialized bookstores on March 1," said Radovan Suk from Albatros.
The 632-page blockbuster by the world´s richest writer is to be sold for 539 CZK.
What is fair and what is not
The official reason for prioritizing the specialized traditional bookshops is the long-term cooperation between them and Albatros.
They are Albatros´ major distribution channel selling about 200 titles from the publishing houses's catalogue, basically its entire production.
"The majority of supermarkets are not a direct distributor of the Albatros books and have no long-term distribution contracts for complete Albatros production signed," explains Radovan Suk.
Besides, traditional booksellers keep complaining about the unfair behavior of hypermarkets that in the past were selling Harry Potter books well below the recommended price to attract costumers.
The malls themselves keep silent. "There is nothing we can do but wait for March 1," said Tesco spokesperson Jana Matoušková about the publisher's decision to postpone the date of release for the big players.
Albatros the Regulator
This is not the first time Albatros authoritatively regulates the Czech book market, courtesy of its exclusive rights to sell the Czech versions of Harry Potter novels.
It is now more than six months since the young bespectacled wizard's fans all over the world scrambled for the coveted last volume of the series.
The official reason Albatros gave for taking so long to produce the translation was the lengthy negotiation about the license. But the rumour has it that the delay was deliberate since the book's release shortly before Christmas would upset the book market with everybody ending up buying Harry Potter and presumably not much else.
Yet, the decision to release Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in hypermarkets with a delay is somewhat unprecedented, even in the international context. In Great Britain the original publisher of Harry Potter, Bloomsbury publishing house, lost their "price war" over the book with the local supermarkets.
They were also selling the book underpriced with a zero profit in the hope of attracting thousands of shoppers. The official price was 17.99 pounds.
The Asda chain network had the Harry Potter book on sale for only 5 pounds in July last year. That meant the loss of 2 million pounds for Asda but it certainly brought them a lot of costumers. Just between Friday midnight and Saturday morning they sold 250,000 copies.
