Viz Communications is providing Borders, the nation's second largest retail book chain, with a six month exclusive on four volumes of the trade paperback Di Gi Charat manga. The first volume is in Borders now and will be available through Diamond on July 1. Subsequent volumes will be released quarterly, first to Borders and six months later to the direct market. Mike Roberson of Viz told ICv2, 'We felt Di Gi Charat was a perfect mall product; the characters are ultra-cute, and shojo titles sell most of their copies outside the direct market.' Borders made a substantial upfront purchase of the first volume of Di Gi Charat, which according to Roberson has been selling very well. While many independent pop culture retailers might not have carried Di Gi Charat anyway, others who do have a substantial female clientele are obviously not happy.
Competition between Borders and Barnes & Noble, the largest retail bookstore chain (which controls 15-20% of the retail market) is heating up as both retail organizations attempt to acquire exclusive merchandise. Barnes & Noble, unlike Borders, has its own publishing arm, Barnes & Noble Books, which has obtained an exclusive on paperback editions of Marvel Masterworks (see 'Barnes Noble To Publish Masterworks TPBs'). To compete with Barnes & Noble, Borders has to make deals with publishers, like Viz, who will provide exclusive products. The losers in this combat are independent retailers, who can't obtain the books in question until the period of exclusivity is over -- and consumers, who may have to chase around from store to store in order to obtain what they want. So far only a few of these exclusives have been comic-related, but with manga and graphic novels being two of the top growth areas in bookstore sales, this is a trend that bears watching.
