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East View Map Link purchases Longitude Books Contact: Christopher Group East View Map Link (EVML) has spent much of the last two
years re-opening the supply of travel maps from locations all over the world
and making them available again to North American consumers. "There was a
large void in the market after the demise of Map Link Santa Barbara", says
Christopher Group, Managing Director of the company. "We have done well to
get much of that back and available to North American customers and
resellers." One of these resellers was Longitude Books based in New York
City. A longtime customer of the original Map Link and EVML, Longitude's model
was to create a recommended reading and travel preparation list for particular
destinations, and present these lists to travelers who were either referred by
their tour-company or travel agent. "This acquisition is about more than just
economics," Group says. "Our bookseller customers will have a built
in editorial team to bolster up their travel departments. They can choose to
buy their books through us or get them from their favorite
wholesaler/distributor. Our goal is to build better travel departments because
better travel departments sell more maps." On the other hand, Group states Longitude's customer base
will benefit as well from a selection of maps and atlases ten times the size of
the current selection. "It did not make sense for Longitude to carry a
wide AND deep selection of map related product", Group proclaims,
"but now they have our entire map inventory at their complete
disposal." EVML will have the day to day Longitude business absorbed within the normal routine by the end of the calendar year. Once that is completed, "our plans are to take full advantage of everything we have invested in during the past two years to get us where we are", Group states. "We will spend a lot of time in 2013 getting better at what we do. We have a special opportunity staring us right in the face. Being the best at what we do will only insure our future existence." |