Costco to stop selling books at most US locations starting next year

Costco has announced it will stop selling books at most of its locations across the U.S. starting next year.

The company said books will only return during holiday seasons, and intermittently outside of that. Costco said the change is being made because stocking books on tables is labor-intensive and must be done by hand.

It also comes as more consumers buy their books from Amazon instead of brick-and-mortar stores.

According to a survey by Statista Consumer Insights published earlier this year, 71% of people said they purchased a book from the online retailer rather than Barnes and Noble, Target or Costco.