After witnessing first-hand the popularity of the series as books magically flew off the shelves three summers ago when “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” was released, Blair and Doug Anderson of Betty’s here breathed a sigh of relief this morning when their shipment of the fifth installment, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” arrived.
“We were worried,” said Doug, noting “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” came in a good day-and-a-half before it went on sale back in 2000.
“Blair was ready to jump off the roof at midnight if these hadn’t come in,” he chuckled as the pair stood by a stack of boxes.
By the condition of the agreement with the supplier, the boxes can’t be opened until midnight (For Potter fans, a warning label cautions that disobeying this condition would make Fluffy angry).
Betty’s will open its doors at 11:59 p.m. tonight—one minute before the witching hour when the novel is to be released. The store will remain open as long as the customers keep coming, but Blair figured this probably only would be for an hour or so.
“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” is being sold for $37.37 plus taxes at Betty’s— about $3 less than the retail price after taxes.
Blair noted he didn’t get quite as many books as he ordered due to high demand from suppliers everywhere in the country. “But we should have enough,” he added.
Part of the new release’s allure might be the unusually long wait fans have had to endure. It’s been three years since its predecessor, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” was released.
Before that, the first three novels—“ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” and “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabhan”—were published once a year from 1997-99.
“There’s more interest than ever,” enthused Blair, noting the movies and the pre-release hype proves Potter is hotter than ever.
“We’ve pre-sold more than we sold overall last time,” remarked Doug.
“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” is 768 pages long and, by word count, more than one-third longer than “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”^The book will be available across Canada, the U.S., Britain, and several other countries starting at midnight tonight.
Rowling’s four previous Potter novels have worldwide sales of more than 190 million.
Within hours of the announcement in January that “Order of the Phoenix” was coming out, the book topped best-seller lists at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
