This Waterstones has failed to sell a single Welsh version of Scrabble in two years
By Carmarthen Journal
By Rob Harries
Waterstones branch manager Emma Morris with the unpopular Scrabble yn Gymraeg
A BOOKSHOP in Carmarthen is lost for words because it's been unable to sell a single game of Scrabble for two years - because it's in Welsh.
Waterstones in Guildhall Square has slashed the game's £24.99 price in half in a desperate bid to sell their old stocks of Scrabble yn Gymraeg, the Welsh language version of the world's top selling word game.
The giant book retailer ordered five of the Welsh Scrabble box sets for Christmas 2014, but they have not shifted a single unit since then.
Branch manager Emma Morris said: "We thought Welsh Scrabble would be snapped up in our games section and not linger so long gathering dust - especially in Carmarthen where we have so many Welsh books for our customers.
Scrabble sells millions of units around the world, but the Welsh version has not proven popular in Carmarthen
"Ironically, we had one customer come to the counter with the Welsh version only to ask if we had it in Polish."
When Scrabble yn Gymraeg was released, with the backing of the Welsh Book Council, there were hopes that it would prove popular with Welsh speakers seeing as the famous word game sells millions of copies worldwide in 29 different languages.
The Welsh game was launched with the help of computer checks which sifted through a million words in the University of Wales dictionary of Welsh, as well as 800,000 words in the Welsh Bible.
A spokesman for the game's maker Mattel said: "We are sorry to hear that the Waterstones branch in Carmarthen has not been successful in selling the Welsh Scrabble.
"We have received a very positive response to the game and the Welsh Book Council and other retail outlets in Wales have reported good sales of the game."
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