July Sales Jumped in Trade, Fell in Education (publishersweekly.com)

Costco Wholesale Corporation announced its operating results for the second quarter and the first 24 weeks of fiscal 2023, ended February 12, 2023. Net sales for the quarter increased 6.5 percent, to $54.24 billion, from $50.94 billion last year. Net sales for the first 24 weeks increased 7.3 percent, to $107.68 billion, from $100.35 billion last year. Net income for the quarter was $1,466 million, $3.30 per diluted share. Last year’s second quarter net income was $1,299 million, $2.92 per diluted share. Net income for the first 24 weeks was $2.83 billion, or $6.37 per diluted share, compared to $2.62 billion, $5.90 per diluted share, last year. For the four-week reporting month of February, ended February 26, 2023, the Company reported net sales of $17.06 billion, an increase of 4.7 percent from $16.29 billion last year.

Barnes & Noble Inc. announced that booksellers from across the U.S. selected ten titles as the Best Books of 2020 (So Far), including books that address our current moment, share lessons from the past, and bring memorable characters—both real and imagined—to life. “Our passionate bookselling team has undertaken the distinct challenge of narrowing down our favorite books from the first half of 2020 into a short list of ten diverse and thought-provoking titles. The result is a unique range that includes the informative and historical, to electrifying new novels and even a heartwarming children’s tale about a dog, a gorilla, and an elephant,” Jackie De Leo, Vice President, Bookstore, Barnes & Noble. “I am really impressed with our booksellers’ selections, and I am pleased to recommend these titles to our customers.”

*Comparable sales increased 2.7 percent, on top of 12.7 percent growth last year. *Comparable sales growth was driven by 1.4 percent traffic growth and a 1.3 percent increase in average ticket. *Category performance was led by growth in frequency businesses including Beauty, Food and Beverage and Household Essentials, which offset continued softness in discretionary categories. *The Company saw unit share gains across all five core merchandising categories.*Third quarter operating margin rate of 3.9 percent improved meaningfully compared with the second quarter results, but fell far short of expectations.