1845 - 1860
1845
With the first issue of A List of New Books and New Editions. in January, John Menzies makes his presence known as a major wholesaler of books.
Newspapers were beginning to attract his attention, and in 1855 he opened accounts with the Daily Express and Daily Mirror - two very different dailies from their present famous namesakes, with which they have no association whatsoever. (The modern Daily Mail was founded in 1896, and the Daily Express in 1900). The 1855 papers were doomed to failure and petered out, but they gave John an inkling of the possibilities of newspaper distribution, and the firm was ready to handle dailies when the occasion arose.
The export market too caught his interest, and he conducted a lively export trade to New Zealand, Australia, and other colonies through the agency of an ex-employee who had emigrated to New South Wales in the 1840's. The export business, however, became a fiercely competitive one and possibly, to John, a tiresome one. He withdrew gradually and expressed no disappointment when his export department closed.
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1857
Trains have been running from London to Edinburgh for over ten years: within Scotland itself there are nearly 1,000 miles of railway in operation.
A new phenomenon, and a very important one for John Menzies, was the railway bookstall.
The stalls at the two chief railway stations in Edinburgh were in the hands of non-Edinburgh firms, and John foresaw that if a Scottish bookseller did not attempt to secure the Scottish bookstalls they would pass into alien hands.
In February 28, 1857, he wrote to the directors of the Scottish Central Railway, offering to take "the book stances at Perth, Stirling [ pictured below ], and Bridge of Allan" for three years, at respective rents of £25, £25, and £10.
The Inverness & Nairn Railway, the North British Railway, the Scottish North-Eastern Railway, and other smaller companies were approached with similar offers.
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1859
His shop at 61 and 63 Princes Street is closed and a new wholesale warehouse opened at 2 South Hanover Street. The company has no shop until 1928.
Hanover Street warehouse
By the time he handed over the reins of the Company to his sons he had secured the rights of bookstalls in almost every part of Scotland.
His wholesale business meanwhile continued to grow, and 61 Princes Street was found to be too small to house the range of stocks he intended to carry. Premises in Hanover street were obtained, and, perhaps not very reluctantly, the retail side of bookselling was dropped.
The new warehouse in Hanover Street, became the home of John Menzies, Wholesaler.
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1860
Turnover is £27,416 of which the bookstalls provide £3,752. Revenue from the stalls remains at something under £4,000 while total turnover increases.
The amount of money brought in by the bookstalls was not a lot, considering the headaches they produced. But the bookstalls were strategical outposts on John Menzies plan of campaign.
In due course those small dots would be joined up to make a picture of a distribution network.
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