Who we are

ACL (Almacén Central de Librería) is a company within the Elkar Group. The Elkar Group is present throughout the entire book value chain, encompassing everything from publishing, through the publishing houses that make up the largest publishing group in the Basque Country, to distribution, both general and exclusive, as well as its own network of 18 bookstores.

All the group’s bookshops hold the Bookshop Quality Seal, awarded by the Ministry of Culture in 2017.

ACL’s head office is located in Aduna, 15 kilometres from San Sebastián. There, it operates a logistics centre with more than 20,000 m² of floor space, a robotic silo with a capacity of 10,000 pallets, and the most advanced technologies applied to stock management and book distribution. This infrastructure enables a 24-hour delivery service throughout the Iberian Peninsula.

ACL handles a wide range of titles and has a team of more than 15 people in telemarketing, as well as 25 sales representatives distributed across the peninsula, with the aim of providing a comprehensive supply service to bookshops and publishers.

ACL’s distribution model combines wholesale distribution with exclusive distribution, with the latter being provided with a dedicated sales team, together with the maximum market reach provided by its general sales network. At the same time, daily deliveries to thousands of points of sale across Spain mean rapid restocking of exclusive catalogues, generating operational and financial synergies that benefit publishers.

What does ACL offer publishers?

The largest sales network working to support publishers

ACL offers publishers the largest sales network specialised in book sales in Spain. A team of more than 25 commercial specialists guarantees direct coverage of 100% of the market, across all sales channels and throughout the entire country.

·         Branches in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Murcia, Seville and San Sebastián

·         Dedicated sales team for exclusive publishers (A-category bookshops and large retail chains)

·         Wholesale sales team (B- and C-category bookshops)

ACL’s range of logistics services is tailored to the needs of each publisher and covers everything from full outsourcing of operations to collaboration on specific processes linked to different types of products, markets or sales channels.

 Printing services

Located very close to the logistics platform is Leitzaran, a full-service printing company belonging to the Elkar Group, with more than 20 years’ experience in the graphic arts sector. It has the infrastructure and technical resources to produce in-house the full range of products required by the market: books (paperback, hardback, wire-o, spiral-bound, perfect-bound, etc.), magazines, catalogues and stationery, controlling the entire process from start to finish. To this end, it operates both offset and digital printing equipment. Publishers under exclusive distribution benefit from financing arrangements adapted to the commercial life cycle of the product. 

ACL’s direct market coverage enables a high level of information and control to be made available to publishers regarding the performance of its catalogue. Publishers can gain detailed insight into the evolution of their sales, maintaining full traceability of the product from launch through to placement at the point of sale, with complete transparency.

This access to reliable, up-to-date information facilitates commercial, editorial and logistics decision-making based on real data. To this end, ACL provides publishers with a set of management, control and analysis tools fully integrated into the commercial process.

GESEDI
 Comprehensive software for the management of publishing and distribution. It enables the commercial process to be monitored within a single working environment, including inventory, sales and consignments, with analysis by point of sale, channel and geographical area. Fully integrated with EDI and SINLI (the Spanish standard information system for the book trade), it includes a report generator with outputs available in Excel, PDF and CSV formats.

QlikView
Business Intelligence tool focused on guided data analytics, enabling the dynamic visualisation and analysis of commercial information. It facilitates the identification of trends, comparison between periods, and evaluation of catalogue performance.

Power BI
Advanced data analysis and visualisation platform offering customisable dashboards accessible in real time. It allows publishers to track key performance indicators (KPIs) for their business, tailored to their needs, improving monitoring of sales, stock levels and turnover.

Internal ERP
In-house developed tool focused on the operational execution of purchase orders and the placement of products on the market. It is fully integrated with SINLI and EDI, ensuring consistency and reliability of information throughout the entire commercial chain.