Books-A-Million has kept a low profile ever since the Anderson family bought back control of the Birmingham, Ala.–based bookstore chain in 2015, after a brief period when it was a publicly traded company. At the time of the purchase, BAM’s annual sales were about $475 million and the retailer, like it is today, was the country’s second-largest bookstore chain, trailing only Barnes & Noble.
In an interview in PW’s New York City offices in mid-September, BAM executive chairman Clyde Anderson and CEO Terry Finley discussed what the retailer has been up to over the past few years and how bookselling has once again returned to favor at a company whose different businesses are competing for funding.
“We’re committing more capital to our bookstores because the bookstores have performed extremely well,” Anderson said. The retailer is in the process of opening 15 new outlets this year, which will keep the total number of outlets at over 220 spread across 32 states.
Finley said BAM closes few stores, and that its store opening program features many instances where new stores are replacing older outlets or repositioning stores in locations—like dying malls—where sales have fallen off. “We’re opening stores where we find opportunity,” Finley noted. The new stores average about 15,000 sq. ft., and in addition to books feature manga, collectibles, puzzles, and gifts. Many stores also have Joe Muggs cafés.
Anderson noted that throughout its history, BAM has been “very opportunistic” in acquiring stores from rivals that went out of business, and deals for former Crown Books and Borders outlets helped BAM expand beyond what Anderson called its traditional “SEC territory.” Though it doesn’t seem a priority, Anderson didn’t rule out entering new markets where there might be “holes.” Anderson declined to discuss a particular number of outlets he would like BAM to reach, but stressed, “let’s be clear, we feel very good about the book business.” Finley noted that for the remainder of 2025, BAM will be opening a store every week.
Along with a new interior design, the makeover of the BAM stores includes a significant increase in BAM’s title count, which now averages about 60,000 titles per outlet. The initiative has “helped lift overall sales for us,” Anderson said.
Faith-based books have always been a staple for BAM, and Finley believes BAM is likely the largest seller of those titles. It has had something of a mixed history with Bibles, though. While the chain has always featured Bibles, it cut back for a time when sales slumped, but now they have returned in a big way, helped by the growing interest in nondenominational Bibles, some of which have different colored covers and other features. “We have a huge Bible business, and 60% of the Bibles we sell are exclusively ours developed in partnership with publishers,” Finley said.
Finley said BAM’s customer traffic is up on a comparable store basis, “or on any other basis you want to measure.” A key to attracting more customers has been BAM’s ability to quickly adjust to trends. Like its major competitor, BAM stays in tune with what is happening on BookTok and other social media platforms. In the stores, romantasy remains hot and horror is growing in popularity, said Finley, who also noted that he sees the influence of BookTok moving into more literary parts of the business.
He said the typical BAM customer is an 18–35 year-old woman who is extremely engaged in social media and whose interests are moving beyond just romantasy titles. Finley said BAM prides itself on being “trend forward” and remains actively engaged in working with independent publishers and small presses.
Both Anderson and Finley said that, though sales of nonfiction have softened, current events can still bring in customers. Still, Finley added, he thinks the type of nonfiction that is being published “has some catching up to do to reach customers.”
To keep up with trends, BAM is using AI to collect better information on the books customers are interested in and has found AI particularly useful to aggregate in-store search information. Anderson stressed BAM’s use of AI is not designed to cut costs (“We are already a low-cost operator”) but to drive volume.
The company uses some old-fashioned tactics to keep tabs on what’s popular as well. Finley and BAM’s chief fiction buyer and chief merchandiser are “constantly on the road attending cons, conventions, and events,” Finley said. And while B&N has given buying power to regional managers, BAM’s buying still operates along traditional lines, with most all buys made from headquarters with input from store managers, who can also buy some regional titles.
As customers returned to the stores after the pandemic, events—particularly big events—have become more important to the retailer, Finley said. BAM’s events, which are run by Anderson’s daughter Olivia, can sometimes feature as many as seven authors. And BAM is increasingly holding events off-site. For a recent one in Philadelphia, BAM had 20 authors present and sold 2,000 tickets. Moreover, Finley stressed, “these customers are engaged.”
Anderson acknowledged that as recently as eight years ago BAM was a low priority for Anderson Media, the family business whose other holdings include fireworks and merchandising companies. It was during Covid that the attitude toward BAM began to change, he said. Like most all retailers, BAM didn’t know what to expect when stores shut down, but it did force BAM to speed up development of some new programs, such as giving customers the ability to order online and have the book delivered that day. That option is still offered through a partnership with Walmart.
Finley acknowledged that BAM’s relations with publishers weren’t always the best, but an investment in time and money has created what Finley believes are now excellent relationships. Anderson said that there is now greater give-and-take between publishers and BAM, adding that publishers seem to be more curious about what BAM’s customers are interested in reading.
Since the pandemic, BAM has posted record years, Anderson said, and he is optimistic about prospects for the remainder of 2025. Anderson said he will continue to invest in BAM as long as the chain continues to produce strong financial results. The retailer currently employs 5,000 part-time and full-time associates in its stores and has a management staff of about 300, with another 400 people working at its 250,000-sq.-ft. distribution center. Both men believe BAM has the talent to continue to grow, with Finley noting that the company has a young but experienced management team “that has been running things and yielding the kind of results we are taking credit for here.”
