Mixed Signals: Others Say Business Is Good--And Bad

by John Mutter and Edward Nawotka, PW Daily for Booksellers -- Publishers Weekly, 11/8/2001

As B&N and Borders were punished today by Wall Street for what many analysts believe will be a poor season for book retailers, reports from others in bookselling continued to be mixed.

National Book Network, for example, had the best October ever and September was the single best month in the distributor's history, according to president Jed Lyons. "Buyers are restocking in anticipation of Christmas after having returned so much at the beginning of the year," he added.

Miriam Bass, NBN's v-p of marketing and new business development, predicted that Americans will be "reticent about Christmas but at the last minute, they are going to want to celebrate their holidays. Books are the perfect last-minute gift. You can walk into a bookstore and find something for everybody on your list."

Bookazine had a similar story. Although sales at the wholesaler were off for several weeks after September 11, there followed "an amazing increase," particularly of grieving, healing and spiritual titles, said Kathleen Willoughby, v-p, marketing and online development. During the past month, sales had dipped slightly but have since started to surge. Although Thanksgiving is early this year--making the traditional holiday season longer than usual--"we're seeing a steady buildup already," she continued. "It's been uncertain, but now we're getting comfortable."

Willoughby emphasized that the recessionary economy may lead consumers to pick books as gifts over other products. In addition, more parents are "buying books for their children and buying books they read as children," a trend that is increasing, she added.

On the other hand, Sandy Jaffe, chairman of the Booksource, said that retail sales have decreased, with independents weaker than chains, although "in the past few weeks, there's been a pickup in backlist and new stock." Booksource has projected "a relatively slow" Christmas season. One sign of the trouble: bestsellers aren't moving at comparable unit numbers to bestsellers of previous years.

Jaffe said it will take a long time for the overall situation to improve. "The whole psyche of the country has to change, and that's going to take a while," he explained. "The stock market, unemployment and the overall mood of the country is not conducive to big sales."

Chris Kerr of Parson Weems Publisher Services called the holiday outlook "really ugly. Simply getting reorders of books that always sell well has been difficult."

He noted that at least some categories are doing well, including spirituality, comfort, cookery and crafts. But, he emphasized, "I think there's hysteria, and it feeds on itself."