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Waterstone's managing director Gerry Johnson said the retailer "did well" despite a "very very tough" book market, in which its like-for-like sales dropped 2% over Christmas. He singled out biography among a strong non-fiction list as a key Christmas performer as well as "exceptional" sales from Stephenie Meyer and J K Rowling.
Johnson said: "We are looking at 2009 pretty cautiously. We will continue to manage pricing carefully. More than anything else it's about managing promotional activity with publishers to bring good value to customers and concentrate effectively in the right places."
Johnson added that the business was in "good shape" for the year ahead. "Our stocks levels are down on last year so there will be a further reduction in returns. We have good plans for the year ahead building upon our Discovery campaign. There are lots of opportunities for the business to perform."
In the five weeks to 3rd January, total sales fell by 0.9%. In the 10-week period to 3rd January, sales dropped by 4.1% on a like-for-like basis and total sales by 3.2%. In 2008 the chain reported like-for-like sales growth of 3.3% over the 10 weeks to 5th January, and up by 4% over the five weeks. Total sales were flat.