September 17, 2024, 8:10 am | Read time: 3 minutes
Founded in 1948, Weltbild had been selling books by mail order since 1972. In the years that followed, the company developed into a well-known book chain but also sold other items such as decorations, home accessories, and electronics. But in June 2024, Weltbild had to file for insolvency and closed all its stores at the end of August. With consequences.
Weltbild filed for insolvency for the first time back in 2014 due to a lack of earnings. The company was taken over by the Düsseldorf-based Droege Group, which planned to restructure the business. However, this did not help, and Weltbild remained in the red due to various market factors. The history of the publishing group began quite successfully. In 2004, Weltbild had almost 300 branches nationwide, and it continued to expand and achieve sales in the billions during this time. This made Weltbild the largest bookseller in Germany.
Weltbild as co-founder of the Tolino Alliance
Together with Deutsche Telekom and other German booksellers – including Thalia and Hugendubel – Weltbild founded the Tolino Alliance in 2013. E-books were sold via Libri, while Kobo was the e-reader that was to compete with Amazon’s Kindle. Tolino expanded internationally and is now available in Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland. E-book readers have also been available under the Tolino brand for several years.
In the course of the insolvency, however, Weltbild has announced that it will cease all business operations on August 31, 2024. This affects not only the operation of remaining stores but also the online business. Weltbild is currently informing customers that they must save all e-books and audiobooks locally before then.
After August 31, Tolino users will no longer be able to log in to a device via a Weltbild account. Data that has not been backed up will then be lost. Weltbild has, therefore, published instructions that explain step by step how customers must now proceed.
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Weltbild customers must back up digital content
The Tolino web reader is a prerequisite for downloading purchased audiobooks and e-books. However, this can only be accessed via the browser, which makes a PC absolutely necessary.
Users can find all available content under “My books” or “My audiobooks” when they log into their Weltbild account using their access data. The content displayed can be downloaded and stored locally on the PC. From here, users can upload them to the Tolino Cloud if they wish so that they can continue to access them via their eReader or tablet.
However, they should make sure to set a different bookseller from the Tolino Alliance as the default in the web reader. Thalia, for example, is a good option here. According to Wirtschaftswoche, the book retailer has announced its intention to take over Weltbild’s books, e-books, and e-readers division. “We have signaled our willingness to acquire the assets of Weltbild GmbH & Co KG and have pushed ahead with talks with the responsible insolvency administrator in recent weeks,” said a spokesperson.
The final end of Weltbild came faster and more abruptly than expected. It affects many users during the summer vacations, who now have just over two weeks to react by the end of August and back up all necessary data so that it is not lost.
The German original of this article was published in August 2024.