Half-off and on the floor, book stores are using older Star Wars novels to try to sell items on their dedicated “High Republic” shelf spaces.
Barnes and Nobles, the large book store and pop culture retail chain, has prominent shelf space dedicated to selling Star Wars: The High Republic novels and merchandise. High Republic is the new young adult series for Star Wars that has created a number of risqué controversies already. From a sentient rock having a sex talk with a young person to Lando fantasizing about polyamorous robot interludes to authors laughing about what they’ve been able to get into the books, it’s quite the mess.
And despite what many in the media might try to say, it’s been a disaster for Lucasfilm and Disney. It’s a disaster they so far have refused to cancel, but it’s a disaster nonetheless. So how bad is it?
Earlier this week we were tipped off that Barnes and Noble likely has a contractual obligation with Lucasfilm and Disney to provide prominent shelf space with a graphic marquee in order to sell The High Republic goods. We were also tipped off, however, that this has been an utter failure for selling the books, and so Barnes and Noble has taken to a different strategy altogether. Although the new books Disney wants to push are available on the shelf-space made available to them, they have been pushed down towards the floor. And, we’re told this is purposeful. Apparently there’s no language in the contract that forbids Barnes and Noble from putting other Star Wars content on the shelving space, and so they’re doing exactly that. Instead of pushing High Republic on the High Republic section, which wasn’t working, they’re not using the area for decades-old Star Wars novels that are more popular.
Note Timothy Zahn novels are at the very top. It would seem bookstores know the Extended Universe for Star Wars, now relegated to non-canon, are better sellers than brand-new Star Wars novels.
The majority of the books in the High Republic reserved space are not High Republic. Those that are have been moved to the bottom.
Like seeing Lightyear toys in clearance aisles, there can be no better way of seeing consumer rejection than retail strategies. Perhaps just as sad, all the Star Wars novels in this section are 50% off. How far the franchise has fallen… only propped up by a corporation with money to burn on reserved spaces, but not the foresight to create content consumers would want.
Thank you to a reader wishing to be anonymous for sending us the tip that made this article possible. That Park Place readers are the very best!
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Well cancelling High Republic isn’t something that should be a thing with extreme veto power.
I tried reading a High Republic comic, to give it a shot. Ugh. Seriously, it’s not a good concept, series, etc. It’s infused with the woke crap.
This does not surprise me at all. Besides the terrible quality of most of the published material recently, the entire point of turning the old EU into “Legends” was that the new published material was all supposed to “count”.
That quickly went by the wayside, with shows and movies constantly wanting to retcon written materials because they wanted their own take on cool scenes.
See: The Bad Batch & Kanaan: The Last Padawan, and the upcoming retcons being made to Dooku: Jedi Lost with the impending release of Tales of the Jedi.
By continuing to do this, Lucasfilm bulldozes their own continuity constantly, and ruins the investment we make in their published materials. The natural result is – we stop buying them.
Just why? This series has floundered from the very beginning, there’s no interest in it whatsoever but Lucasfilm just continue to push it even though they know they’re flogging a dead horse at this point. I’m beginning to think Disney have no interest in this franchise whatsoever and are just sitting back watching Kathleen Kennedy burn money.