Industry Statistics

Bookstore sales in April dipped slightly below April 2003 levels, interrupting the mostly upward trend of the last 11 months. April 2004 bookstore sales of $1,015 million were off 0.3 percent from the $1,018 million for April 2003. As a result, bookstore sales in April failed to keep up with overall retail. Overall retail of $332 billion for April 2004 was 8.9 percent better than the $305 billion for April of the previous year. 2003-2004 RETAIL SALES for BOOKSTORES (unadjusted)

According to the Book Industry Study Group's (BISG) recently released Book Industry Trends 2004, annual consumer expenditures for books will reach $44 billion by 2008. Trade, mass market, and professional publishing revenues will increase by roughly 10 percent by 2008, with revenue growth higher for university press and college publishers, but the most significant growth will be in the el-hi and standardized-test segments of the industry, with respective increases of more than 20 and 45 percent.

March bookstore sales continued the generally upward trend of the last 10 months, according to preliminary figures recently released by the Bureau of the Census. March 2004 bookstore sales of $1,076 million were 11.7 percent better than the $963 million for March 2003. Bookstore sales in March outpaced overall retail sales. Overall retail sales were $336 billion for March 2004, 10.5 percent better than the $304 billion of the previous year. 2003-2004 RETAIL SALES for BOOKSTORES (unadjusted)

The results of ABA's semi-annual annual revenue survey of bookstore members indicate that almost 65 percent of the 243 reporting stores saw their sales increase, as compared to 2002. Meanwhile, 35 percent experienced a decline in sales in 2003, as compared to 2002. Just over 26 percent of respondents saw sales increases of five percent or less, while 20.6 percent saw sales increases of more than five, but less than 10 percent, and 17.7 percent saw sales rise more than 10 percent over 2002.

Recently released findings from Ipsos BookTrends brought good news to independent booksellers. In 2003, independent bookstores fared well on a unit basis with demand outpacing the overall trade book industry. As a result, the independent/small chain bookstore channel's market position reached a five-year share high of 16 percent (vs. 15 percent in 2002).

After a flat January, retail sales at bookstores in February increased nearly 10 percent over February 2003, thus resuming the upward trend of recent months. This year's February bookstore sales were $1,145 million, compared to $1,043 million in February 2003. Bookstore sales in February kept pace with overall retail. Overall retail of $296 billion for February 2004 was 10.4 percent better than the $268 billion of the previous year.

January 2004 bookstore sales were down a bit from January 2003, thus interrupting the generally upward trend of the previous seven months. January bookstore sales of $2,069 million declined 1.2 percent from the $2,094 million for January 2003. Bookstore sales for January also failed to keep pace with overall retail, which improved over January 2003. Overall retail sales of $296 billion for January 2004 was 6.1 percent better than the $279 billion for the previous year.

Bookstore sales in December 2003 resumed the upward trend of the second half of the year -- a trend interrupted only in November. Preliminary December sales of $2,036 million were 1.5 percent higher than the $2,005 million figure for December 2002. While December’s increase was modest, it did ensure that the year 2003 ended up 2.4 percent better than the previous year.

After five consecutive months of gains, retail sales at bookstores turned downward in November. Preliminary data released by the Bureau of the Census shows November 2003 sales at bookstores of $1,041 million, down 2.9 percent from $1,072 million in November 2002. Despite soft sales in November, 2003 year-to-date sales for bookstores are 2.5 percent better than for the first 11 months of 2002. Overall retail sales of $316 billion for November 2003 were 5.0 percent ahead of the $301 billion for November of 2002.

Putnam Book Center Closes