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Blow to Costco customers as it admits defeat in long-running battle with Amazon for top-selling item
Costco has finally thrown in the towel in its long-running battle with Amazon as the chain announced it will stop regularly selling books in its stores.
The retailer has been in a battle with Amazon since the tech giant began selling books online in 1995.
Costco told major publishing executives on Wednesday of its plan to stop stocking books year-round as of January.
It will now only sell them during the holiday period from the fall through December.
Throughout the rest of the year books may occasionally be sold but not consistently, executives familiar with the plans told the New York Times.
Given its scale Costco would often order tens of thousands of copies of a book
Costco has claimed the move away from books is due to the cost of staffing required to stock them, according to the executives.
The extra labor compared to other products comes from the time it takes to hand lay out books every Tuesday as new ones are released, as well as return unsold copies to publishing houses.
The move will come as a blow to publishers who are battling stagnant sales and more and more customers moving online.
Given its scale Costco would often order tens of thousands of copies of a book it was stocking.
For major bestsellers it could stock hundreds of thousands per title.
'It's an easy place to just grab the latest in a series you're reading or pick up a book for your kid,' Brenna Connor, the director of US books at Circana told the Times of Costco and other large stores.
She added: 'They are important for the book market overall.'
Costco had already phased out books in some of its markets including Alaska and Hawaii.
'Costco across the country was a big outlet for books,' Robert Gottlieb, chair of Trident Media Group told the Times.
Costco has been in a battle with Amazon since the tech giant began selling books online
'There are now fewer and fewer places to buy books in a retail environment' he explained.
While it is no longer selling books year-long, Costco last year began selling 1-ounce gold bars last summer.
These have been a hit with customers - who are buying around $200 million worth of them a month.
Those who bought them last fall have seen their value shoot up by $400. Those who bought them last year or earlier this year before gold jumped in price will have made a profit, DailyMail.com research shows. Those who bought them more recently will have to wait and see.