Harry Potter V records ‘sell out’ locally

“Before we could display the Harry Potter book V in the window showcase people were asking for the book. We had to give them from the box,” said a store clerk of a local book store.

The fifth edition of the Harry Potter series — “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” by UK author JK Rowling was released worldwide, yesterday  and despite reports of the long lines of eager customers outside book stores in the US and UK, local book stores are expecting a total sell-out of stock in the first day of sales. Up to 1 pm, Eventures book store, St James branch had realised 120 sales, a total sell-out, in the first two hours of the store’s opening at 9 am. Store owner, Richard Aming said that he brought in a total of 150 copies for both his branches in St James and St Augustine. “The first two customers bought five copies each. They said they were buying to give out to friends,” said Aming. The 766-page edition of Harry Potter V costs $155.

Aming said that the books had an embargo date of June 21 and local retailers were not allowed to ship in the books more than a day before its release. “I came in 8 o’clock  last night with the books to put them out for this morning. I wanted to bring 300 books but the books are heavy. Each weighs three pounds,” he said. Aming has put in an order for another 150 copies for Friday. Next to JRR Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” series, Aming said that Harry Potter books has been his second best seller. Stefan Mitchell, 12, of Petit Valley had just purchased his copy of the fifth edition. He told Sunday Newsday: “I wanted to be one of the first to read it... I like the writing style and story line of the Harry Potter series. On a scale of one to ten I’d give the series a 9 1/2.” While Stefan is eager to read his copy his father reminded “not until test is over, he can read it. He doesn’t have a choice,” said Mr Mitchell. Stefan read all of the previous editions.

“My daughter had me calling relatives in the US up to this morning for them to secure a copy for her and when we heard that local book stores had it we came right down,” said Karien Sargeant of Belmont. Her daughter, Kalisha Toussaint, 15, described it as a “must-have.” “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” is over a third longer than the previous edition “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” — 255,000 words more than book IV’s 191,000 words. Book IV recorded the fastest selling book in history on the first weekend of its publication. The book is published in a standard children’s hardback edition and in an adult hardback edition, with same text but with a different jacket. Books imported from the US carry a blue jacket while those from the UK have a yellow jacket.