Print Unit Sales Fell 5.5% Last Week (publishersweekly.com)

Domestic revenue of $8.41 billion increased 6.3% versus last year driven by comparable sales growth of 7.1%, partially offset by the loss of revenue from 17 large-format and 193 Best Buy Mobile store closures over the past year. International revenue of $697 million increased 13.1% versus last year. This increase was primarily driven by comparable sales growth of 6.4%, due to growth in both Canada and Mexico, and approximately 500 basis points of positive foreign currency impact. Domestic gross profit rate was 23.3% versus 23.6% last year. International gross profit rate was 23.4% versus 24.5% last year. Click Read More below for additional information.

HarperCollins Publishers announced several executive-level personnel changes. Suzanne Murphy, President and Publisher of HarperCollins Children’s Books, will be leaving the company to pursue other interests. Liate Stehlik has been promoted to President and Publisher, Morrow Group and HarperCollins Children’s Books, adding the Children’s division to her purview. Dan Schwartz has been promoted to EVP, CFO and Head of North American Operations. Matt Bennett, Global Chief Information Officer, has been appointed to the company’s global executive committee, now reporting to Schwartz. Zandra Magariño, SVP, Chief People Officer, will expand her role to include oversight of real estate, as well as employee health, safety, and security. Brian Murray, President and CEO, HarperCollins Publishers, said, “Earlier this year, we launched a transformation effort to identify new ways to work smarter and more efficiently across North America and globally. To that end, we are clarifying and consolidating our executive leadership team. This new structure will allow us to implement key publishing, systems, and operational changes to confront current challenges and seize existing opportunities in our rapidly evolving industry.”

U.S. publishers are not alone in experiencing problems with their postal system. Their neighbors to the north are also unhappy with theirs — for different reasons. A coalition of Canadian news publishers is demanding that Canada Post reverse a decision that would allow consumers to opt out of receiving community newspapers with commercial inserts. These are now seen as junk mail, thanks to the ending of an exemption from Canada Post’s Consumers’ Choice program. As of January 8, 2024, community newspapers with commercial inserts were no longer exempt from Canada Post’s Consumers’ Choice program, which allows Canadians to opt out of receiving ‘junk mail.’