Bookstore sales rose 1.2% in July to $981 million, according to estimates released Friday morning by the U.S. Census Bureau. The July increase followed a 3.8% gain in June and resulted in a 0.6% increase in bookstore sales for the first seven months of 2012. In the January-July period, bookstore sales hit $7.96 billion. For the entire retail segment, July sales rose 3.0% and sales for the first seven months of 2012 were up 5.9%.
Bookstore sales include results from retailers that generate at least 50% of their revenue from books.
