The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

« Headlines

US book sales hold up - just

04.09.08 Philip Jones and Philip Stone

The number of books sold in the US in the year to date is up by more than 2% on last year, according to data from Nielsen BookScan's US arm. The growth is slightly behind that reported by the US Census Bureau, which has the value of bookstore sales in the US up by 3% in the first half. BookScan in the US does not record value.

The figures, for the year to 24th August, suggest that US retail sales are holding up despite recessionary fears and comparisons with the release last year of the final Harry Potter. Sales so far this year have been helped by authors Stephenie Meyer, Randy Pausch and Eckhart Tolle.

Results from high street US booksellers have been mixed, with sales at Barnes & Noble up in its first quarter but down in the second, due to comparisons with the final Potter book. Last week, Borders reported second-quarter sales of $749.2m (£420.3m), down 6.9% from a year ago. Comparable store sales for the second quarter were down at Borders domestic superstores by 5.1%, even with Harry Potter removed.

Publishers have also reported indifferent results, with Simon & Schuster and Random House seeing first-half revenue falls.

In his letter to staff, RH chief executive Markus Dohle said US book revenues for this half year matched the first half of 2007, but said this "was not easy to achieve in this economic environment".

Quarto chief executive Laurence Orbach has also warned of a "biting" slowdown in the US, with bookshops under pressure to hold down inventory, discouraging his business from reprinting books.

Retail International US Nielsen Bookscan Philip Jones and Philip Stone