May Bookstore Sales Jumped 130% (publisahersweekly.com)

The all-important post-Thanksgiving holiday sales period got off to a subdued start at bookstores around the country this year. As expected, foot traffic was light. The National Retail Federation reported the number of in-store shoppers fell 37% on Black Friday compared with last year while the number of customers who shopped only online through the weekend and on Cyber Monday rose by 44% over 2019. Bookshop.org sold some approximately $2.3 million in books over the period from Friday through Monday, according to Andy Hunter, CEO of Bookshop.org. Unsurprisingly, Amazon.com reported it had its best period ever in the company’s history and noted on a blog post that among its bestselling items were several books, including Barack Obama’s A Promised Land (Crown) and The Deep End (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #15) by Jeff Kinney (Abrams/Amulet); both titles were also cited by nearly all the bookstores surveyed by PW. Other bestsellers at Amazon included Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey (Crown), A Time for Mercy by John Grisham (Doubleday), The Sentinel by Lee Child (Delacorte), and Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson (Tor), among adult books, as well as Grime and Punishment (Dog Man #9) by Dav Pilkey (Scholastic/Grafix) in the children’s category.

WBA third quarter sales increased 8.6 percent from the year-ago quarter to $35.4 billion, an increase of 8.9 percent on a constant currency basis, reflecting sales growth in the U.S. Retail Pharmacy and International segments, and a significant contribution from the U.S. Healthcare segment. Operating loss was $0.5 billion in the third quarter compared to a loss of $0.3 billion in the year-ago quarter. Operating loss in the quarter reflects a $431 million non-cash impairment of pharmacy license intangible assets in Boots UK. Net earnings in the third quarter was $118 million compared to net earnings of $289 million in the year-ago quarter, primarily driven by lower operating income.

*Strengthened financial position during the quarter, ending with $2.4 billion in cash *Disciplined management of expenses and inventory resulted in positive operating cash flow *Second quarter net sales decrease (22.9%) *Second quarter diluted earnings per share of $0.30; adjusted loss per share(2) of ($0.25)