Originally published July 10 2014
Costco censorship attempt backfires; 'America' book sees huge surge in sales after attempted memory-holing
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) The blatantly political attempt to silence the author of a politically incorrect new book has backfired on chain wholesaler Costco after one of its top managers reversed a decision to pull the tome from stores.
Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti told WorldNetDaily July 9 that sales of the book, America: Imagine a World Without Her, by Dinesh D'Souza, would resume, as copies were restocked on store shelves.
Galanti said the book would be reordered from the publisher, Regnery.
After Costco made the decision to pull the tome, outrage from members led to a reversal of the decision by the wholesaler, WND reports.
"Frankly, because of all the hoo-rah, some Costco locations have sold more of D'Souza's book today than they sold in the previous four weeks combined," Galenati told the news site.
The CFO confirmed that he was referring to members' outcry following WorldNetDaily's earlier report that Costco had made the decision to remove the title from store shelves just as the companion movie of the same name was set to hit theaters.
'Oh no, it wasn't political'
When WND's story first broke, the title was at No. 43 on Amazon.com's bestseller list; shortly thereafter, it hit No. 1 (Editor's note: The book was still No. 1 July 9).
"We are bringing it back, not for political reasons, but because the book is now selling well," Galanti told WND. "We didn't pull the book on July 1 for political reasons, and we are not putting it back in the stores now for political reasons. We are doing this because we sell merchandise and D'Souza's book is now selling well."
Critics aren't so sure, and neither is the book's author. D'Souza told WND in an interview that, despite the success of his previous books that were sold by Costco and the release of the new title's companion movie the previous week, coupled with the title's strong Amazon.com sales, among other factors, it was hard to believe that the reason for pulling it was due to anything but an "ideological solidarity with [President] Obama."
WND further reported:
In this midterm election year, "America" is a strong rebuttal of the progressive ideology behind President Obama's policies, which have been supported by Costco co-founder and director Jim Sinegal, a major Democrat donor and a speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention that nominated the president. A Washington Post political reporter has noted Obama's "romance" with the nation's second-largest retailer.
Galanti confirmed the reversal, saying he had just spoken with the boss of Costco book buyer Pennie Clark Ianniciello.
'I can't get statistics today'
Galanti indicated that it might be a couple of weeks before some of the chain's stores have the book back in stock, "depending upon how long the publisher takes to print and ship" them.
In an earlier conversation with the CFO, before the decision was confirmed to restock the book, Galanti said that Ianniciello had made a "mistake" in issuing a "pull order" for the title July 1, before the movie opened in 1,000 theaters nationwide that same week, WND reported.
The CFO said, however, that he was not able to answer detailed questions about how D'Souza's book was selling in comparison to other books currently on Costo store shelves around the country.
"I can't get any statistics today," Galanti explained, "because Pennie Ianniciello is out of the office attending a funeral."
Earlier, Galanti also said his office was swamped with phone calls from irate Costco customers.
WND reported that its staffers were unable to reach Regnery, the publisher, to find out if any of the books that were returned by Costco could be shipped back to the store chain, as well as how long it would take to manufacture and ship new copies.
Sources:
http://www.wnd.com
http://www.amazon.com
http://www.americathemovie.com
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