As anticipated, the inclusion of an extra pre-holiday shopping day helped to lift the final week of holiday sales above the same closing week from last year. Notably, it’s the first and only week in the holiday sales stretch in which 2022 sales outpaced the same week from 2021. (Indeed, the last time a 2022 sale week was ahead of the comparable week from a year ago was in late August.) According to NPD Bookscan, week 51 sales for the period ending December 24 saw print sales of 29.8 million units, versus 27.1 million units a year ago and 23.3 […]
Archives for December 2022
Obituary: Joyce Meskis
Longtime Tattered Cover owner Joyce Meskis, 80, died at home on December 22. Meskis purchased the small namesake bookstore in 1974 and grew it into a renowned group of stores, and sold the company in 2015. Longtime employee Cathy Langer said, “Her legacy is changing the way people think about bookstores and their role in society.” As the store notes, “Joyce was a literary lioness that evolved our industry in a way that few others had done before her.”
For Just A Few Days: A Free Trial at PM
To close out the year and ring in the new, we are offering one of our very occasional free trial periods at PublishersMarketplace. Register now through January 1 and you can check out our rich resources with no further obligation (though of course we hope you stay with us into the new year). Please follow the posted terms, and cancel before the end of day on January 1 if you do not want to keep a membership for a full month. Happy new year from all of us at PM.
Barnes & Noble to Switch More Locations
Barnes & Noble will close their longtime store in Framingham, MA in January, but expect to open a new 18,000-square-foot location nearby in Natick, MA in the spring. Similarly, in Tampa, FL, they will vacate a longtime space of almost 20,000 square feet and open a new 10,000-square-foot location in Westshore in February.
AAP Sales Fell 14.3 Percent In October
The AAP reported sales for October, which is usually the biggest month for reporting publishers as they ship big fall releases and fill store inventory in preparation for holiday sales. Overall trade sales were 14.3 percent lower than the record showing a year ago, falling $151 million, but still the second-strongest October showing. Adult sales of $598 million were down 16.4 percent from $716 million a year ago, on lower sales across all print formats. Consumer sales held up fine, with adult digital audio up over $9 million to $61 million, getting ever closer to ebook sales at $70 million, […]