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Bookstore Sales Slipped in 2011
Bookstore sales fell 0.8% in 2011, the slowest rate of decline since bookstore sales peaked at $17.18 billion in 2007, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Since 2007, bookstore sales declined a total of 9.6%. The modest drop in 2011 comes with one big caveat—December bookstore sales fell 15.6%, by far the largest decline of the year.
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Kitson Stacks Up the Books
When Fraser Ross opened his first trendy Kitson clothing and accessories store in West Hollywood in 2001, it was a magnet for celebrities and the paparazzi that stalked them, a most unlikely retail candidate to capture the attention of New York publishers. But one decade and an additional 12 stores later, Kitson has emerged as a valuable specialty outlet for publishers, with book sales topping $1.6 million last year. “Our turn on books is 11 times a year,” says Ross, who moved to Los Angeles from Toronto after establishing himself there as a retailer by running Ice, his first specialty store. “Kitson carries about 400 titles, which might not seem like a lot, but when a book is hot we easily sell 1,000 to 1,500 copies of it. It’s a huge add-on business. Clothing has become risky, but our book sales keep growing. The books at Kitson provide entertainment shopping for the whole family,” Ross says. And sales keep growing; this January the chain sold $100,000 in books, five times more than last January.
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The Evolving Role of the Sales Rep
In the past few years everything about the book business has changed, and with it the role of the rep, or district manager, as many are now known. In part that’s a reflection of how ordering has changed, especially with the increasing adoption of Edelweiss, the interactive publishers’ catalogue service.
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Second Group Makes B&N Investment
The day after Dimensiona Fund Advisors reported a 5.45% stake in Barnes & Noble, Fidelity Management & Research Company, a subsidiary of FMR LLC, has acquired just under a 10% interest in the company by buying just over 6 million shares.
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Bookmasters Adds 6 UK Clients
Bookmasters in Ashland, Oh., is adding Arcturus Publishing, Quintessentially Publishing, House of Stratus, Heni Publishing and Salma Editions, Stripe Publishing, and Management Briefs to its bag.
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Bookstore Sales Plunged in December, Slipped for Year
Bookstore sales dropped 15.6% in December, down 0.8% for year.
Many booksellers reported that the past holiday season was the best in a number of years, but whatever -
Simon & Schuster Joins Edelweiss
Starting yesterday, Simon & Schuster began offering its seasonal catalogs as well as e-galleys through Edelweiss.
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Pittsburgh’s Mystery Lovers for Sale
Twenty-one-year-old Mystery Lovers Bookshop in the Pittsburgh suburbs is the latest well known store to put up a for-sale sign out front.
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Clarification
Thursday evening we changed the headline and opening sentence in our story about the American Booksellers Association’s for-profit IndieCommerce subsidiary delisting Amazon titles. We made the changes at the request of IndieCommerce director Matt Supko, who said that the policy change was made by IndieCommerce personnel. Because the ABA is a nonprofit, it can’t tell its members to carry or not carry a book or books.
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Indigo Third Quarter Profits Down
Indigo, Canada's largest book retailer, reported Q3 revenues that were up slightly, but profits were down from the previous year.
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ABA's IndieCommerce Site Dropping Amazon Publishing Titles
On Wednesday the American Booksellers Association's for-profit subsidiary, IndieCommerce, began removing all Amazon titles from its database.
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Seneca's The Booksmith Up For Sale
The Booksmith, a literary fixture of Seneca, S.C., has just been put up for sale by co-owners Alan and Patricia Lightweis, who plan to retire after more than two decades behind the counter.
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Algonquin Launches “Lucky 7” E-book Promotion
Algonquin Books in Chapel Hill is looking to spread the e-book love to indies with a marketing promotion that kicks off just in time for Valentine's Day, 7 e-books for 7 days at $1.99.
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Curious George Returns to Harvard Square
The Curious George store in Harvard Square Cambridge, Mass., will reopen on April 28, with a new name, new owners, and a different product mix, all dedicated to the mischievous monkey.
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Obituary: Liberation Bookstore Founder Una Mulzac
Bookseller Una Mulzac (1923-2012), founder of the Harlem’s Liberation Bookstore on West 131st Street in New York City, died late last month at the age of 88.
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R. J. Julia for Sale
Following the example of iconic bookstores like New England Mobile Book Fair and Politics & Prose, 22-year-old R.J. Julia is putting itself on the selling block.
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Obituary: Hudson News Founder Robert B. Cohen
The man who grew the Hudson News chain from a single store in LaGuardia Airport in 1987 to roughly 600 stores in the U.S. and Canada, Robert B. Cohen, died; he was 86.
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News Briefs: Week of February 6, 2012
Results Down at McGraw-Hill Ed and more.
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Now and Then Jumps into Digital Short Pool
In early 2011, Amazon launched Kindle Singles, and among those who saw the potential of the short-form digital content model were Chandos Erwin, managing director of the digital agency Oatmeal Beach, and Ivan Dee, chief editor of Quadrangle Books and then founder of Ivan R. Dee Inc. (now an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield).
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Is the Time Right for Bundling?
In a world where people increasingly consume their content on multiple platforms, questions are swirling about why publishers are not allowing readers easy access to both digital and print. (Studies show that most e-book readers also buy print books.)
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