Amazon: Friend or Foe? by Jim Milliot - 04/28/2008
Along with discussions of hot books and high prices at this month’s London Book Fair, another major topic of conversation in the aisles was Amazon. The immediate flashpoint was the e-tailer’s new policy of making publishers who use print-on-demand go through its BookSurge subsidiary if they don’t want to risk having Amazon deactivate the buy button on their titles.
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Books Slip at Books-A-Million by Jim Milliot - 04/28/2008
Sales in Books-A-Million's core book operation were “down slightly” in the year ended February 2, 2008, the company said in its annual report. Total revenue at BAM rose 2.9% in the year, to $535.1 million. Commercial fiction was one of BAM's strongest performing categories, while the retailer saw “positive sales trends in teen, graphic novels and our Faithpoint inspirational b...
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Book Sales Flat At Hastings 04/28/2008
Book sales at Hastings Entertainment held even at approximately $120 million, the retailer reported in its 10-k filing made to the Securities & Exchange Commission for the year ended January 31, 2008. Books accounted for 22% of Hastings's total revenue, tying it with video as the largest product category last year.
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Amazon Highlights: Kindle in Stock; Does Collect Tax by Jim Milliot - 04/23/2008
The highlights of Amazon's first quarter conference call included word that the Kindle is now in stock, and that the e-tailer already collects sales or value added taxes on about 50% of its business. North America media sales rose 21.7%.
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Borders Reorganizes Merchandising Team By Rachel Deahl - 04/15/2008
Borders has shuffled its internal merchandising team. The retailer, which previously had a pool of buyers, will now be restructured into a merchandising department with buyers, planners and directors. The changes will go into effect on May 19.
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As Amazon Soars, Bookstores Creep by Jim Milliot - 04/14/2008
Two surveys released over the past several weeks put the share of the consumer book market controlled by online retailers at between 21% (R.R. Bowker) and 30% (Fairfield Research), growth that has been fueled, in large part, by the expansion of Amazon. In discussing their 2007 results, both Penguin's David Shanks and Simon & Schuster's Carolyn Reidy said the e-tailer was their fastest-growi...
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B&N’s Quamut Lures Publishers, Takes on About.com by Lynn Andriani - 04/07/2008
Barnes & Noble Inc. took a significant step into the digital publishing sphere last month when it officially launched Quamut.com, a how-to Web site. The site offers free guides on more than 1,000 topics. Quamut publisher and managing director Dan Weiss acknowledged the competition—About.com is the leading how-to site on the Web, ranking 40th on Web traffic analyzer Alexa.
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