June Bookstore Sales Virtually Same as Year Ago

Bookstore sales for June showed no improvement over last year, and actually slipped a fraction of a percentage point by comparison with June 2001. Preliminary June bookstore sales figures of $1,200 million were down 0.1 percent from the $1,201 million of the previous June.

June is the fifth month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep pace with overall retail.

Overall retail sales of $302 billion for June 2002 came in 1.3 percent over the $298 billion realized in June of 2001.

2001-2002 RETAIL SALES for BOOKSTORES (unadjusted)

Period
2001 Final (Millions of Dollars)
2002 (Millions of Dollars)
% Increase 2002 Over 2001
January
1,698
2,188
28.9
February
1,163
1,117
(4.0)
March
1,165
1,126
(3.3)
April
1,034
1,043
0.9
May
1,188
1,229
3.5
June
1,201
1,200(p)
(0.1)
YTD
7,449
7,903
6.1

(p) Preliminary figure

Note: Estimates reflect sales of all types of participating bookstore, including trade, college, religious, chain stores (including superstores), and others. A bookstore is defined as any retail establishment with sales comprised of more than 50 percent new books and periodicals, and estimates include sales of all products in these stores.

Source: Bureau of the Census, Current Retail Trade Branch.