Costco is removing this entire popular section from its stores

Say it’s not like that, Costco!

The popular discount retailer is throwing in the towel when it comes to reading, because from January most of the outlet’s over 600 branches will no longer sell books. For years, bargain hunters could go to Costco, stock up on toilet paper and canned goods, grab a $1.50 hot dog, and read the latest book while doing so.

However, after a month, readers will have to turn to Amazon or other stores to get their book.

COSTCO HAS BEEN SELLING BOOKS FOR DECADES

The New York Times reports that Costco recently alerted book publishers to the big change, pointing out that storing books would be more labor-intensive because it would have to be done by hand rather than with a forklift like its other products.

About 500 of Costco’s 600 stores will go bookless except for the year-end holidays. The move comes as a shock to publishers who are increasingly struggling to sell books at retail. For some of the best-selling books in literature, Costco has been responsible for hundreds of thousands of sales.

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BOOKS ARE ONLY AVAILABLE DURING HOLIDAYS

“It’s an easy place to just catch up on the latest in a series you’re reading or pick up a book for your child,” Brenna Connor of Circana US Books told the UK Daily Mail.

Costco shoppers were already nervous about shopping cart wars or the recent increase in their annual membership to $65 a year. But get rid of books now? This isn’t something Costco bargain hunters will write much about.