Total sales for the country's four largest bookstore chains rose 10.7%, to $1.35 billion, in the second quarter ended Aug. 1, 1998. The quarterly growth rate was the lowest in recent years; only the Borders Group managed to post double-digit sales gains in the period. Sales in last year's second quarter were up 14.8%, while sales in this year's first quarter rose 13.2%.

The growth rate in the most recent quarter was slowed in part by Crown Books, whose sales fell 18% in the quarter, to approximately $55 million, due to interruptions in its business caused by its Chapter 11 filing (see above). In the most recent quarter, both Barnes &Noble and Books-A-Million saw sales gains that were only about half as large as increases posted in the comparable period in fiscal 1998. B&N's sales increased 9.4% in this year's second quarter, compared to 17.8% last year, while BAM's growth rate fell from 19% to 8.5%.

For the first six months of fiscal 1999, total chain store sales increased 11.9%, to $2.7 billion. Total sales in the first half of fiscal 1998 were up 15.2%. Once again, Borders was the only company among the big four whose six months' revenues in the most recent period topped that of last year, with sales up 17.3% compared to 13.6% in the first half of fiscal '98.