Fascination Books

Last updated

Fascination Books was one of South Africa's largest book chains with branches throughout South Africa. After 13 years of considerable growth, owner and founder Johan Marais applied for liquidation in October 2008. [1] The company was the largest independent book chain in the South Africa. [2] It stocked a wide range of books, focussing on religious books, while also stocking a great variety of books in Afrikaans. [3]

Contents

Johan Marais

Beside Johan Marais being the founder and sole owner of the Fascination Books group, he is also the managing director of the company. [4] He specialises in the field of herpetology and is currently[ when? ] completing a master's degree at the University of Witwatersrand under professor Graham Alexander, with whom he collaborated on the book Guide to Reptiles of Southern Africa. Prior to this he published Snake versus Man (1994), Conservation and Utilization of the Nile Crocodile (1991; with professor Gerrie Smith), Snakes of the World (1984), Snakes and Snakebites (2001) What's that Snake?, a short identification guide on Southern African snakes, as well as Snakes of Southern Africa (2004; originally published in 1992, then totally rewritten), a complete guide, which was followed by the aforementioned reptile guide. [5] All these books are published by Struik Books South Africa.

Online Store

In April 2008, the company also introduced an online store on its website, with a range of up to 3 million books. According to Marais, the online store was formed as a separate company and will not be part of the liquidation. [6]

Liquidation

On Wednesday 22 October 2008 Fascination Books applied for liquidation. [7] The liquidation came as a surprise to the more than 300 people employed by the company. [8] "We knew nothing about this beforehand. On Wednesday afternoon [22 October 2008] the liquidators walked in and we had to hand over the keys and leave the shop immediately," [9] said a shocked employee to the press.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perodua Kelisa</span> Motor vehicle

The Perodua Kelisa is a city car from Malaysian automaker Perodua. It was launched in 2001 as the successor to the Perodua Kancil. The Kelisa was sold alongside the older Kancil, and both were eventually replaced by the Perodua Viva in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BrickFest</span>

BrickFest was the first convention for adult fans of LEGO (AFOLs) in the United States. The focus was to have fans bring their creations, often referred to as MOCs, to display and share with fellow enthusiasts.

<i>The Legend of Lotus Spring</i> 1998 video game

The Legend of Lotus Spring is a graphical adventure computer game co-developed by Women Wise and Xing Xing and released on Valentine's Day in 2000 in North America. It was originally released by Xing Xing in 1998 in China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TinyMCE</span> Online rich-text editor

TinyMCE is an online rich-text editor released as open-source software under the MIT License. It has the ability to convert HTML text area fields or other HTML elements to editor instances. TinyMCE is designed to easily integrate with JavaScript libraries such as React, Vue.js, AngularJS and Bootstrap as well as content management systems such as Joomla!, and WordPress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IWA Intercontinental Championship</span>

The IWA Intercontinental Championship is a secondary professional wrestling title defended in Puerto Rico. It was originally defended in the original International Wrestling Association, later being reintroduced in the World Wrestling League (WWL). The title was used since 2002, when Super Crazy became the first champion, defeating Eddie Guerrero at the very first Ring of Honor event, The Era of Honor Begins, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The championship was modified in 2009, changing the original black belt to another colored red.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IWA World Heavyweight Championship (Puerto Rico)</span>

The IWA World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship that is contested in the International Wrestling Association's main branch at Puerto Rico. Besides its base jurisdiction, the title has also been defended within the international circuit and interpromotially at Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (Japan) and Revolution X-treme Wrestling (Panama).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IWA World Tag Team Championship</span> Professional wrestling tag team championship

IWA World Tag Team Championship is a Tag Team Championship defended in Puerto Rico.The titles were first introduced in the first incarnation of the International Wrestling Association, where they are defended. They also made a brief appearance in the World Wrestling League (WWL) during 2018. It was introduced on January 6, 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IWA Television Championship</span>

The IWA Television Championship, formally known as the IWA Extreme Cruiserweight Championship, was a title defended in the International Wrestling Association in Puerto Rico.

Delta G Scientific Company was originally a front company established April 1982 in Weldegraan, Pretoria by the South African Defence Force to research and produce chemical weapons within a covert operation known as Project Coast.

Benjamin Bounkoulou is a Congolese politician who served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 1995 under President Pascal Lissouba. He has been President of the Union for the Republic (UR), a political party, since 1995. Bounkoulou was Second Vice-President of the National Transitional Council from 1998 to 2002 and First Vice-President of the Senate from 2002 to 2011. After failing to win re-election to the Senate in 2011, he was instead elected to the National Assembly in 2012 and served as President of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Commission.

The 2001 Canadian Professional Soccer League season was the fourth season for the Canadian Professional Soccer League. The season began on May 25, 2001 and concluded on October 14, 2001 with St. Catharines Wolves defeating Toronto Supra by a score of 1-0 to win their second CPSL Championship. The final was hosted in St. Catharines with Club Roma Stadium as the venue, while the match received coverage from Rogers TV. The season saw the league expand to a total of 12 teams, and went beyond the GTA and Ontario border to include a Montreal and Ottawa franchise. Throughout the regular season the Ottawa Wizards became the first club to end the Toronto Olympians league title dynasty. The CPSL also launched the CPSL Soccer Show with Rogers TV providing the broadcasting, and granting Rogers naming rights to the CPSL Championship. Other major sponsors included the Government of Canada, which served as the sole sponsor for the CPSL Rookie of the Year Award. The league also announced a working partnership with the Canadian United Soccer League a task force originally started by the Canadian Soccer Association in order forge a unified professional structure with the cooperation of the Canadian franchises in the USL A-League to launch a Canadian first and second division domestic league.

<i>Necronomicon: The Dawning of Darkness</i> 2000 video game

Necronomicon: The Dawning of Darkness, also known as Necronomicon: The Gateway to Beyond, is a 2000 video game developed by Wanadoo Edition and released for Windows and the PlayStation video game console.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramón Nomar</span> Galician pornographic film actor

Ramón Nomar is a Venezuelan-born Spanish pornographic actor. He started his pornographic career around the age of 23, and he has worked with pornographic film producers Reality Kings, Brazzers and New Sensation.

<i>Microshaft Winblows 98</i> 1998 video game

Microshaft Winblows 98 is a 1998 interactive comedy video game for Windows and the Classic Mac OS. It parodies the then-upcoming Windows 98 operating system, as well as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Released by Palladium Interactive during the United States v. Microsoft Corp. case and at a time when Microsoft, Windows, and Gates were easy targets for jokes, the game offers a satirical take on this ripe subject matter.

Cerebral palsy football, also called 7-a-side football or formerly Paralympic football, is an adaptation of association football for athletes with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders, including stroke and traumatic brain injury. From 1978 to 2014, cerebral palsy football was governed by the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA). In January 2015, governance of the sport was taken over by the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football, under the umbrella of Para Football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunline Coach Company</span> U.S. Recreational Vehicle Manufacturer

Sunline Coach Company was a manufacturer of recreational vehicles, truck bed caps, and household storage sheds from 1964 to November, 2006. Vehicles were primarily built at a production facility in Denver, Pennsylvania, or at a smaller location in Leola. The company built about 70,000 travel trailers, truck campers, fifth wheels, and motorhomes over their 42-year history.

<i>The Real Neverending Story Part 1: Auryn Quest</i> 2002 video game

Auryn Quest is a run-and-jump adventure game based on Michael Ende's novel The Neverending Story and his film adaptation of the same name. It was originally developed by Discreet Monsters, and was finished by Attraction after the former company went bankrupt from "bad luck and mishaps".

References

  1. ↑ "Book chain closes doors: Fin24: Companies". 2011-07-11. Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2017-08-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ↑ "Book chain closes doors | Fin24". 2012-02-12. Archived from the original on 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2017-08-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ↑ "Fascination Online - Online Shopping for Books - About Fascination Online". Archived from the original on 2008-10-24. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  4. ↑ "Getting up Close & Personal with Johan Marais". Archived from the original on 2009-02-08. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  5. ↑ "Getting up Close & Personal with Johan Marais". Archived from the original on 2009-02-08. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  6. ↑ "Book chain closes doors | Fin24". 2012-02-12. Archived from the original on 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2017-08-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ↑ "Book chain closes doors | Fin24". 2012-02-12. Archived from the original on 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2017-08-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ↑ "Book chain closes doors | Fin24". 2012-02-12. Archived from the original on 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2017-08-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ↑ "Book chain closes doors | Fin24". 2012-02-12. Archived from the original on 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2017-08-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.