Sales Rise 2% at BAM in First Quarter

by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 5/29/2007 2:21:00 PM

Sales at Books-A-Million rose 2.1% in the first quarter ended May 5, to $116.3 million, the retailer reported, while earnings jumped 40%, to $2.1 million. The revenue gain came despite a 0.5% decline in same store sales in the period. The increase in earnings was attributed to fewer discounts as well as a minor increase in operating expenses.

Company president Sandy Cochran said sales in the book segment were flat. Among the categories that Cochran said stood out in the first quarter were new age, driven by sales of The Secret, the retailer’s bestselling book in the quarter, "dynamic growth" of graphic novels and hardcover and mass market fiction.