Bookstores Need More than Hope. They Need Sales. And Soon. (publishersweekly.com)

Q2 2020 Headlines: •Net sales declined 35% to $251 million in the second quarter, and declined 24% to $441 million on a year-to-date basis •Billings1 declined 39% to $297 million in the second quarter, and declined 34% to $428 million on a year-to-date basis •HMH has further improved its leading win rate in the Texas Literature adoption with virtually all decisions made •Significant growth in digital platform usage with 486% increase in student assignments over the last twelve months as schools adjust to remote learning environment •Strong growth of 127% in SaaS billings as digital transformation accelerates

FY23 third quarter service performance scores covering July 1 through July 28, included: *First-Class Mail: 91.4 percent of First-Class Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, consistent with performance from the fiscal third quarter. *Marketing Mail: 95.0 percent of Marketing Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, consistent with performance from the fiscal third quarter. *Periodicals: 85.9 percent of Periodicals delivered on time against the USPS service standard, a decrease of 2.6 percentage points from the fiscal third quarter.

Sales in the second quarter of 2017 totaled $5.552 billion, a decrease of 5.4 percent, compared with sales of $5.866 billion in the second quarter of 2016. The year-over-year decline in total sales reflects, in part, the closure of stores previously announced by the company. Comparable sales on an owned basis were down 2.8 percent in the second quarter and down 2.5 percent on an owned plus licensed basis. Year to date, Macy's, Inc.'s sales totaled $10.890 billion, down 6.4 percent from total sales of $11.637 billion in the first half of 2016. Comparable sales on an owned basis were down 4.0 percent in the first half of 2017 and down 3.6 percent on an owned plus licensed basis. Macy's, Inc.'s operating income totaled $254 million or 4.6 percent of sales for the second quarter of 2017 compared to $117 million, or 2.0 percent of sales for the second quarter of 2016. Excluding non-cash settlement charges of $51 million, operating income for the second quarter of 2017 totaled $305 million or 5.5 percent of sales. Excluding asset impairment and other charges primarily related to store closings of $249 million and non-cash settlement charges of $6 million, operating income for the second quarter of 2016 totaled $372 million or 6.4 percent of sales. For the first half of 2017, Macy's, Inc.'s operating income totaled $474 million or 4.4 percent of sales compared to $393 million or 3.4 percent of sales for the first half of 2016. Click Read More below for additional detail.