Costco's Reported Plans To Stop Selling Books Ignites Backlash From Readers

In a move that shocked both publishers and readers alike, Costco announced that it would stop selling books starting in January 2025. So while you may be able to pick up some of the new summer 2024 book releases from your local Costco in the coming weeks, it will be your last chance to do so. According to The New York Times, the chain plans to only offer books during the holiday shopping months, meaning just September through December. With 611 Costco stores across the U.S. as of May 2024 and 23% of those store being in the state of California, that's a major disappointment to readers who rely on the chain as their main source to buy literature.

But why the decision to pull the books? Apparently, it comes down to labor costs. Costco, which is known as a place where you can buy vats and vats of pretty much anything, needs to stock the books by hand — unlike all those tubs of mayonnaise that just come out on a pallet. What books don't sell need to be returned to the publisher, again by hand.

While it's understandable that Costco, like any company, would want to cut costs because that's what companies do, there's no denying this move will have a serious impact on readers all over the U.S. For some, Costco is the only place to find books at an affordable price point. For others, it's the only place to find books at all. The impact that's going to follow this decision is going to affect many.

Naturally, people who buy their books at Costco aren't happy. Not long after the decision was announced, readers took to Reddit to share their disappointment. Some people pointed out how they loved that they could get new releases cheaper there than they would at other place, while others shared the random books finds they were able to score at Costco. "[T]his makes me sad actually. thinking about how the first box sets I could afford growing up were from Costco, and how my parents would let me grab books and sit in the furniture section to read for a bit while they made the rounds," wrote one user on X. 

Buying books from Costco while I visited my grandparents in Memphis was always a childhood highlight. This is devastating to me. https://t.co/n2UB7n2A0g

— victoria sockwell, archive shorty (@literaryblkgirl) June 6, 2024

However, it's not just readers who stand to be affected. Publishers, authors, and literary agents rely on Costco as a distributor for their work. "Costco across the country was a big outlet for books," literary agent and chairman at Trident Media Group Robert Gottlieb told The New York Times. "There are now fewer and fewer places to buy books in a retail environment." 

There were also some users who pointed out how the move might be a good thing for small, independent bookstores — assuming people don't pivot to buying from Amazon, which accounts for more than half of all U.S. book sales, per a survey by Words Rated. As such, many took to social media to put out a PSA to encourage fellow readers to support their local indie bookstores. "With Costco now dropping books as inventory (except select titles from Sept-Dec), indie bookstores are more essential than ever. If you love books, buy books from physical stores or sites that support them [...] Don't buy your books from Amazon," wrote one user.

Your local bookstore sells books all year round remember to support themhttps://t.co/i2va0nEtt5

— 𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔢 🇵🇸 (@floatawaywitme) June 6, 2024

Not everyone has access to books. According to the American Federation of Teachers, 45% of kids live in a neighborhood where there are no bookstores or libraries. These areas are dubbed book deserts and they're very common in the U.S., resulting in an estimated 32.4% of children not owning any books at all.

Reading is essential. Reading gives people, of all the ages, the ability to grow and evolve alongside their peers. But as much as reading is paramount to the success of both children and adults, the U.S. ranks 36^th in literacy. Reading is also falling out of favor. A December 2023 YouGov poll found that almost half of Americans, at 46%, didn't read a single book in 2023. Once we add in the continuation of books getting banned across the United States, we're looking at a lot of different factors that are contributing to our world literacy standing going further in the wrong direction. 

Although Costco's decision to cut costs in this way is heartbreaking for readers and those in the publishing community, it appears to be a sign of the times. More people are moving toward online subscriptions with their magazines and Kindle has been gaining in popularity. But when we take away some as simple and as powerful as books, we all lose. Hopefully, Costco will reconsider their decision. Sadly, the chain has already stopped selling books in some of their branches in both Alaska and Hawaii. If they don't, it will up to the rest of us to make sure programs like Head Start stay active so kids who need and want books never have to go without them.