February Sales Drop 4.2%

by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 4/25/2005

Bookstore sales fell 4.2% in February, to $1.03 billion, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Sales for the entire retail segment rose 5.6% in the month. For the first two months of 2005, bookstore sales declined 4.6%, to $3.14 billion, while the total retail sector had a 5.4% increase. The Census Bureau also revised January bookstore sales upward by $102 million, cutting the decline in the month to 4.9% from 9.8%.