Overall sales actually rose at Books-a-Million in the first quarter, up $2.3 million to $118.2 million, while same-store sales slid 1.1 percent. Net income rose to $2.1 million, though much of the gain came from savings on stocks grants and compensation forfeited when ceo Sandra Cochran left the company. CEO Clyde Anderson says in the release, “Given the difficult economic environment, we’re pleased with our results for the quarter. While comparable sales numbers were down slightly, they represented an improvement over recent quarters, and our continued focus on cost control, gross margin and inventory management delivered improved earnings.” Release At […]
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Comp Sales Fall 5.7% at BN, Which Raises Guidance After Smaller-than-Expected Loss
Barnes & Noble is good at beating the expectations of stock analysts and their own investor “guidance,” and they did it again for their first quarter, even as overall sales fell 4 percent to $1.105 billion. Same-store sales fell 5.7 percent for the quarter, a little better than their previous guidance, with overall store sales falling only 3.5 percent to $989 million. BN.com sales fell more, by 7 percent, at $93 million. The net loss from continuing operations of $2.1 million (or 4 cents a share) was better than the predicted loss of 10 cents to 20 cents a share. […]
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Harper UK managing director Amanda Ridout is leaving the company at the end of next month after seven years to pursue “confidential” ventures, the Bookseller reports. “All will be revealed in the fullness of time,” Ridout adds. Frank McCourt‘s publishers and agent have confirmed that he has been undergoing chemotherapy for melanoma. The 78-year-old author is back home now and “doing pretty well” according to Molly Friedrich.AP Morty Mint and his Mint Publishers Group has taken on the sales operation for Joy Berry Enterprises. Acting as brand consultant, he will be the primary sales executive for the company, working with […]
The Case for a Smaller BEA
BEA show director Lance Fensterman expands in a blog post on the projected statistics for the upcoming convention that we wrote about earlier. Exhibition square footage is running 20 to 25% smaller than the last show in LA. In attendance, ABA registrations are “almost flat (100 or so down)”; librarians are down “about 25%, which is disappointing”. Miscellaneous industry professionals who did not fit into new, more target categories have been slimmed by about 1,350, which was intentional, to eliminate “attendees that our exhibiting customers told us were not of high value to them.” Overall registered attendees are down by […]
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Anna Stein will join London-based Aitken Alexander and start a New York office for the agency as of June 1. Gillon Aitken is quoted in the Bookseller: “As our markets grow ever closer, we believe this is an auspicious moment to expand our presence in the US, and we are delighted that Anna is joining us.” Jacqueline Flynn has joined Joelle Delbourgo Associates as an agent. Formerly executive editor at Amacom Books, she will represent a wide range of nonfiction including business and career, technology, science, psychology, self-help, and parenting. Carrie Cantor is heading up the agency’s new editorial services […]
On Demand Books Overtake Traditional Titles for the First Time
Bowker’s preliminary data for books published in the US in 2008 shows that output from traditional publishers declined by about 3 percent to 275,232 new titles. But they project that the number of “on demand” books grew 132 percent to 285,394 books, now exceeding the traditional titles. The biggest declines for traditional publishers came in travel (down by 15 percent, with 4,817 new titles), fiction (down 11 percent, with 47,541 new titles the largest of all categories), and religion (down 14 percent, at 16,847 titles).Release