TORONTO, Oct. 31 Canadian retailer Indigo Books & Music Inc. said Wednesday it had cut all book prices 10 to 20 percent to offset Canada's soaring dollar.
The discount is intended to close the gap between the printed prices of Canadian and U.S. books.
The higher discount will be given to customers who belong to the chain's "irewards" loyalty program, the company said.
The retail prices printed on book covers are determined by the publisher often six months before a book appears on store shelves and often do not reflect the current exchange rate, said the Toronto-based chain, which also runs Chapters and Coles bookstores.
Chapters and Indigo stores are similar to U.S. bookstore chains Barnes & Noble Inc. and Borders Group Inc. Coles is similar to U.S. Waldenbooks and Brentano's stores.
The books coming into Canadian bookstores Wednesday were printed when the exchange rate was $0.85, Indigo said.
The Canadian dollar rose 0.3 percent Wednesday to $1.0513, and is up nearly 23 percent against the U.S. dollar this year.
Indigo said the discounts would remain in effect at least through the Christmas shopping season and could be used on any book, including those already discounted under another program.
Other Canadian retailers that have lowered prices to offset the Canadian dollar's surge include Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Canadian unit and Zellers Inc., Canada's second-largest mass-merchandise chain, The Toronto Star reported.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
