Following a difficult period, the Steimatzky bookstore chain has reason to smile. Sources inform "Globes" that the Yediot Books and Keter publishing houses today signed an agreement to renew their supply of books to the chain.
Kibbutz Hameuchad-Poalim and Matar, which distribute their books through Steimatzky, will also resume supplying books to it. Together with Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir, which signed an earlier agreement, Steimatzky is more secure against the threat that one of its creditors will take it to court.
As part of the agreement, the publishing firm creditors agreed to forego 30% of their debt and to delay repayment of the remainder by six months.
Publishing firms yet to sign an agreement with Steimatzky include Modan, Am Oved, Schocken, and Graff.
In the current situation, with Steimatzky being supplied by the three largest publishing houses in Israel, which jointly account for 40% of sales, in addition to other firms that will also supply it, Steimatzky is once again filling its shelves with books.
This morning, with the signing of the agreement with Yediot Books, trucks loaded with the latter's books were already arriving at Steimatzky's warehouses.
In this state of affairs, it is very likely that the publishing houses still sitting on the fence will soon join those that signed today's agreement, in the hope that the new owners will introduce a new spirit into Steimatzky, thereby avoiding a demand for an additional debt write-off in the coming months. p>Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 26, 2014
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