Warehouse chain Costco will stop selling books for most of the year, according to reports from the New York Times.
Instead of being a regular offering, books will only be stocked or their holiday shopping period from September to December and as part of special promotions. The change, which is expected to take place in January 2025, was confirmed to the Times by several publishing industry executives who cited the increased labor of stocking books, which must often be done by hand.
Unlike most Costco products that can be rolled out on a pallet, books have to be arranged manually by workers, driving up costs, executives said.
According to the Times, book sales have already stopped in Hawaii and Alaska.
Costco currently has more than 610 locations in the U.S.
You can read more from the Times here.