Retail Sales at Bookstores Jump in August

By Elizabeth Knapp on Monday, Oct 17, 2011

August retail sales at bookstores increased by 11.8 percent compared to August 2010, according to preliminary figures recently released by the Bureau of the Census.

August 2011 bookstore sales are estimated at $2,440 million, compared with sales of $2,183 million for the same period last year.

Total retail and food service sales in August are estimated at $402 billion, compared with $369.2 billion in August 2010, an increase of 8.9 percent.
 

Period

2010 Final
(Millions of Dollars)

2011
(Millions of Dollars)

% Change
2011 over 2010

January

2,178

2,072

-4.9

February

962

1,051

9.3

March

962

973

1.1

April

871

888

2

May

1,032

1,048

1.6

June

1,040

1,018

-2.1

July

1,025

984

-4.2

August

2,183

2,440 (p)

11.8

YTD

10,253

10,474 (p)

2.2

(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.

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