Industry News

The New Yorker has created a new public service advertising campaign to promote book buying this holiday season. The campaign features two pieces of art that include the slogan "Have You Booked Your Holiday?… Something for everyone. Literally." The New Yorker has made the artwork available to anyone who wishes to promote books this season.

It may have just started gathering momentum, but the Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance (AIBA) was organized enough to hold a recent "Buy Local" shopping day. On Saturday, December 6, the fledgling group asked Albuquerque consumers to buy only at locally owned businesses.

October bookstore sales of $1,064 million were 3.5 percent ahead of the $1,028 million sales figure of a year ago, according to preliminary figures released by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Retail Trade Branch.

With the Census Bureau's recent adjustment of September figures upward from $1,491 million to $1,524 million, October is the fifth month in a row that bookstore sales showed improvement over the previous year.

Overall retail sales for October 2003 of $320 billion were 7.0 percent ahead of the $299 billion in October 2002.

The full January/February Book Sense 76 with booksellers' quotes is now online at news.bookweb.org/read/2060, and it's an auspicious harbinger for the quality and scope of published titles in 2004. Fliers will be mailed to stores the first week of January.

Here are two quick reminders about current Book Sense promotions:

On Monday, December 8, a federal judge in District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas in Little Rock said he needed answers before he could rule on whether amendments to an Arkansas statute that restrict the "display" of material that is "harmful to minors," among other things, violates the First Amendment, as reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. In June 2003, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), Arkansas' That Bookstore in Blytheville, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, and others challe

The new electronic Book Sense Gift Card Program is off to an auspicious start according to booksellers from around the country who described instant success and a painless transition to the new cards, when they recently spoke to Bookselling This Week. Booksellers' reports on consumer response to the gift cards bear out research conducted by the National Retail Federation 2003 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, which stated that there will be a significant leap in the gift card sector, with 48.4 percent of consumers indicating that they would like to

With the Book Sense Gift Card Program in full swing, and the holidays upon us, booksellers participating in the gift card program should note these important announcements regarding reordering cards. Booksellers can now restock their Book Sense Gift Cards and the coordinating presenters at a newly launched web site: booksenseorders.givex.com. Booksellers need to use the same login and password, which was provided by Givex, that they use to access store.givex.com.

Online Sales Soar for Some Over Black Friday Weekend

According to the second installment of the 2003 eHoliday Mood Study, conducted by Shop.org and BizRate.com, over half of retailers surveyed saw sales increase more than 25 percent over last year for the Black Friday weekend. Additionally, 71 percent of online retailers said that they are feeling optimistic about the holiday season, up four percent from two weeks ago.

ABA has announced that as of Tuesday, December 9, all rooms at the Allerton Crowne Plaza and Radisson Hotel & Suites set aside for ABA member booksellers planning to attend BookExpo America (BEA) 2004 in Chicago have been sold out.

"ABA and BEA thank all the booksellers who have signed up to take advantage of these great hotel offers," said ABA COO Oren Teicher. "We have some great things in store for you when you arrive!"

On Monday, December 8, ABA COO Oren Teicher sent a letter to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to thank him for his efforts to educate consumers about the ins and outs of gift cards and to provide the senator with information about the new Book Sense Gift Card program. Enclosed in the letter was a $25 Book Sense Gift Card presented to the senator by ABA, as well as a list of stores in New York State where he can redeem the card. (To read the letter in full, click here.)

In the past year, in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, bills have been introduced that would allow states to simplify sales tax regulations and give states the authority to require remote sellers to collect and remit sales and use taxes. It is expected that the bills would help states begin to recover from years of budgetary shortfalls by collecting revenue lost through catalog and Internet purchases.

Last month, Canterbury Booksellers in Madison, Wisconsin, hosted Al Franken for a sold-out event at the 1,800-seat Orpheum Theater, a recently renovated movie house. Studs Terkel, who introduced Franken to the crowd, then went to the store following the event for his own very successful book signing and reading. Canterbury Booksellers, which hosts over 100 events a year, sees this super-sized event as a model for a regular series of more grand-scale readings.

When does a 300-square-foot bookstore have enough space to encompass millions of book buyers and thousands of books? Answer: When National Public Radio's Susan Stamberg asks its manager to recommend some holiday gift books and the response is aired on the popular Morning Edition radio program. On December 4, three independent bookstores were represented during the radio segment titled "The Hunt for Books That Are Better to Give."

In this article, which originally appeared on December 1 on SunSpot.net, an online service of the Baltimore Sun, writer Elizabeth L. Piccirillo describes how a growing number of consumers spent their Thanksgiving weekend shopping at small stores, replacing crowded malls and long lines with unique gifts and personal service.

By Elizabeth L. Piccirillo