Carmichael’s Is Bookseller of the Year; Benton Wins Rep Honors
Carmichael’s Bookstore has been voted PW’s Bookseller of the Year, while Penguin sales rep Tom Benton has taken the award as Rep of the Year. Founded in 1978 in Louisville, Ky., by Carol Besse and Michael Boggs, Carmichael’s is now in two locations; over the past 10 years sales have doubled and profits tripled.
January Store Sales Even
Bookstore sales were virtually flat in January, rising $1 million over January 2008, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Bookstore sales in the month held at $2.28 billion. Sales from stores that generate more than 50% of their revenue from books are included in the estimate. Sales for all of retail fell 8.3% in January.
Charges Hurt Profits at Quarto
The U.K.—based publisher and packager Quarto Group reported that total revenue for 2008 rose 13%, to £112.7 million ($154 million at current exchange rates), but Quarto also reported £4.3 million in one-time charges associated with closing its art business and consolidating the warehouse and back-office operations of its U.S. operations. The write-down dropped operating profit by 46%, to £5.2 million. The co-edition segment had a 12% sales increase, to £42.7 million, while the publishing segment revenue rose 13%, to £70 million, but that gain was due largely to the inclusion of a full year’s results from MBI.
RD Exiting Library Market
Reader’s Digest’s Weekly Reader Publishing Group subsidiary is getting out of the library market with plans to close its World Almanac Education Library Services and sell Gareth Stevens Publishing. RD plans to close the services company by the end of June and has hired the investment banking firm Broadwater & Associates to find a buyer for Stevens.
Currency Hurts Wiley
Third-quarter revenue at John Wiley fell 13%, to $374.4 million, due mainly to the negative impact of foreign exchange and a soft quarter in the professional/trade group. Without the effects of currency translation, sales declined 2%. Operating income fell 7%, to $63.3 million, on a reported basis, but EPS was up 20% on a currency neutral basis.
HMH Trade Staying; Credit Resolved
After receiving several bids, HMH parent company Education Media & Publishing Group has decided to keep the trade division. And in what could be a related development, EMPG said Friday morning it had successfully amended its credit agreement with its lenders to give it more financial flexibility.
Correction
In the story about Penguin's 2008 results in the March 9 issue of PW, the Penguin imprint that is the publisher of Sue Grafton was incorrect. Grafton will continue to be published under the Marian Wood Books imprint.
