May Bookstore Sales up 6.5%

Bookstore sales in May rose 6.5%, to $1.24 billion, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Sales for the entire retail segment were up 4.8% in the month. For the first five months of 2001, bookstore sales were ahead 9.5%, to $6.52 billion, while sales for all of retail were up 3.2%. The discrepancy between the strong sales reported by bookstores and the weak sales from publishers in the five-month period is explained in part by the fact that the government figures include all sales from stores where book sales account for at least 50% of revenues.