Growth Stock Picks – Indigo expands beyond books

Article Excerpt

INDIGO BOOKS & MUSIC INC. $13 (Toronto symbol IDG; Aggressive Growth Stock Picks, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 24.8 million; Market cap: $322.4 million; SI Rating: Extra risk) is Canada’s largest bookseller. It operates 86 superstores under the banners Chapters, Indigo and the World’s Biggest Bookstore, and 159 small format stores, under the banners Coles, Indigo, Indigospirit, SmithBooks and The Book Company. Indigo also sells its products over the Internet. The company continues to add non-book merchandise to its stores, including consumer electronics, yoga mats, storage bins and gift cards. That helps cut Indigo’s reliance on books for growth, particularly since it has to discount top-selling titles to compete with larger retailers such as Wal-Mart. Indigo is now testing a new retailing concept. It recently opened two boutique stores in Toronto under the “Pistachio” banner. These stores feature environmentally friendly gift, paper and beauty products. If successful, the company feels it could open about 200 Pistachio stores in Canada and the United…