CHICAGO (AP) — It turns out all Encyclopaedia Britannica had to do to breathe life into the business of selling its print edition was kill it.
Three weeks after announcing it will discontinue its print editions after 244 years, people have been scrambling to buy the last of the 32-volume 2010 edition. On Thursday, spokesman Peter Duckler said all but about 800 of the last 4,000 sets have been sold for $1,395 each.
When the Chicago-based company made its announcement last month, it said sales had plummeted from a peak of 120,000 in 1990 to just 60 a week.
Duckler says since customers found out the print editions were about to disappear, they've been selling at a clip of more than 1,000 a week.
Shares