4/17/2002 -- Coriolis' so-called "Spring Break" sale is over.

The company, which is currently being dissolved by its majority owner, Haights Cross, was offering up to 75 percent off products through its Coriolis.com and ExamCram.com Web sites. The sale was supposed to last through April 24. However, the company posted the following message on its Web site late last week: "Due to the overwhelming success of our 'Spring Break Promotion' we must temporarily suspend taking any additional orders through our bookstore. After the orders currently placed are shipped to our customers, we will restart the sale with available Coriolis inventory."

"We wanted to handle it as long as we could," Tim McEwen, CEO of Haights Cross, told CertCities.com regarding the sale. "Because we're down to very few staff [and] it takes processing for each order...to handle all the orders by April 30 [the last day for the site, and the company], we needed to end it."

As for the sale itself, many who did take advantage have not yet recieved the books they ordered. When asked about slow shipment, McEwen said "All orders will be filled."

"We fully intend to ship all orders," he continued. "The only reason I could see we wouldn't is if we were out of stock...but, really, what's hurting everyone in this industry [is] returns and too much inventory."

According to McEwen, the shipping for the orders is being handled by an outside distribution firm.

As for the shutdown of Coriolis itself, Haights Cross chairman Peter Quandt told CertCities.com, "So far it's going pretty well.... we're making good progress in working with the companies and individuals involved, trying to sort this out."

Quandt also denied rumors that Hungry Minds, a division of Wiley, will be acquiring the Exam Cram line. "We've been contacted by a number of companies, but not Wiley," he said.

Wiley dismissed the rumors as well. "It's not true," a spokesperson told us, "Wiley will not be purchasing any Coriolis titles." - B.N.