Bookstore Sales Jumped in August
by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 10/20/2003
Preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show a large gain in bookstore sales in August. According to Census figures, bookstore sales rose 15.5% in August, to $2.11 billion. If the estimates hold up, the gain was likely led by sales at college bookstores. General bookstores reported only modest growth in the summer; Barnes & Noble's comparable-store sales, for example, were up 2% in August. The Bureau reported that bookstore sales for the first eight months of the year were up 3.3%, to $10.53 billion. For the entire retail sector, sales rose 4.4% in August and 4.8% in the year to date.
