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n an August talk show on Is-
rael Radio, Michelle's Maga-
zines owner Joe Ezekiel stirred
up some local controversy af-
ter "Boker Tov Israel" interview-
er Amos Arbel commented that
EH Steimatzky, president of the
Steimatzky bookstore chain,
must be hopping with anger
about Mr. Ezekiel's success.
Mr. Ezekiel — whose three
Jerusalem stores dwarf in com-
parison with Steimatzky's 120
outlets and $50 million in esti-
mated annual sales — snidely
responded: "Let him jump,"
which, of course, sounds a lot bet-
ter — and arrogant — in the He-
brew sheyikfotz li.
Two days later, Mr.
Steimatzky's public
relations network
did just that. De-
manding to tell
their side of the sto-
ry, the company
said that Ezekiel
told nothing but lies
and that his maga-
zines were surplus
issues brought in
six months after
publication. The in-
cident quickly re-
ceded, and Mr.
Steimatzky, an un-
touchable Don in
the book retailing
and distribution in-
dustry, went unscathed.
However, underdogs like
Ezekiel remain bitter about their
inability to break what they call
the Steimatzky monopoly.
"I sell 20,000 magazines in a
month," Ezekiel says, gesturing
to his well-stocked shelves. "But
when I want to open a new shop,
wherever I go they say, 'Sorry
but we've got Steirnatzky.' A con-
tractor builds a new mall and he
know he wants the Body Shop
and Steimatzky. So my concept
is out-of-the-way locations that
can be reached by car, but we
[also] need to be more central,
and my plan is the Jerusalem
flagship store. Of course, if EH
Steimatzky hears of the location,
he'll be there."
The familiar green-and-white
Steimatzky signs can be found
on scores of stores throughout
the country that sell annually
5,000,000 books and 7,000,000
newspapers and magazines to
more than 1,000,000 customers
per month.
In short, Mr. Steimatzky is the
country's closest approximation
to the U.S. market's Barnes and
Noble superstore chain, with
more than 1,000 sources world-
wide supplying it with books and
magazines in more than seven
languages, in addition to CDs,
greeting cards, games, videos,
puzzles and bookmarks.
Each week, Steimatzky's,
which also functions as the sole
contact for overseas publishers
and distributor to other local
book retailers, receives 25 tons
of imported material, which is
not surprising given the 35,000
foreign titles stocked by the store.
And yet, in addition to dis-
gruntled retailers like Mr.
Ezekiel, some government offi-
cials and ordinary customers also
resent the Steimatzky empire's
market sway.
An informal survey taken out-
side one of its stores in
downtown Jerusalem
showed that tourists,
native Israelis and re-
cently-arrived immi-
grants have a variety
of complaints about c:
Steimatzky.
While they found
the prices reasonable,
some tourists com-
mented that they had
to try all three stores
within a five-block
radius in order to find
a particular book.
Some Israeli cus-
tomers said they had
no complaints about
the Hebrew selection and inven-
tory but added that they usual-
ly purchase through the
publisher for a discount, a com-
mon Israeli practice.
Most of the Anglos surveyed
said they felt that Mr.
Steimatzky's prices are too high
and the selection of English-lan-
guage titles is too skimpy.
Eri Steimatzky — the 54-year-
old, bespectacled owner of the
empire established by his father
in 1925 with two stores, one in
Jerusalem the other in Haifa —
scoffs at any criticism and insists
that he does not maintain sole
control of the Israeli book mar-
ket.
"We're not alone in the field
here; in fact, ours account for few-
er than 50 percent of the books
sold in Israel," he says.
Could be, but the company's
growth rate has been phenome-
nal; Steimatzky's current 10
dozen outlets have mushroomed
from a mere four stores in the
1960s.
"No, there's no other major
chain," Mr. Steimatzky now con-
cedes, "but there are other stores
that are competing with us."
BOOK BIND page 54