Bookstore Sales Fell 16.6% in January (publishersweekly.com)

Total Company net sales for the three months ended July 31, 2023, increased 7.5% to a record $1.27 billion. Total Retail segment net sales increased 5.9%, with comparable Retail segment net sales increasing 4.9%. The increase in Retail segment comparable net sales was driven by mid-single-digit positive growth in both retail store sales and digital channel sales. By brand, comparable Retail segment net sales increased 26.9% at the Free People Group and 10.6% at the Anthropologie Group and decreased 14.1% at Urban Outfitters. Wholesale segment net sales decreased 5.2% driven by a 6.5% decrease in Free People Group wholesale sales due to a decrease in sales to department stores, while Urban Outfitters wholesale sales increased by $0.5 million. Nuuly segment net sales increased by $27.0 million driven by an 85% increase in our subscribers versus the end of the prior year’s comparable quarter.

U.S. book publishing’s biggest trade show is being “retired,” show organizer ReedPop announced today. BookExpo, along with BookCon and Unbound, will not be held in 2021 after being canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. ReedPop, the pop culture event–focused subdivision of Reed Exhibitions, said that, given the “continued uncertainty surrounding in-person events at this time,” the company has decided “that the best way forward is to retire the current iteration of events as they explore new ways to meet the community’s needs through a fusion of in-person and virtual events.”

Fourth Quarter Highlights: Total revenues increased 2.2 percent to $239.5 million, compared with $234.4 million in the prior year period. On a comparable basis1, revenues increased 2.9 percent. EPS was $0.12 per share compared with a loss of $0.17 per share in the prior year period. Adjusted EPS1 was a loss of $0.11 per share compared with a loss of $0.14 per share in the prior year period. EBITDA1, excluding stock-based compensation, was a loss of $2.2 million, compared with a loss of $6.0 million in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA1 was a loss of $1.7 million compared with a loss of $2.9 million in the prior year period. Click Read More below for additional detail.