Books Down at Hastings; Will Sell E-books by Fall

As Hastings Entertainment reported a 9.1% decline in book comparable store sales for the first quarter ended April 30, the multimedia retailer announced that it will begin selling e-books from its gohastings.com Web site sometime in the third quarter of the current fiscal year (August-October). For the entire company in the quarter, sales fell 3.8%, to $124.1 million, and net income declined to $413,000 from $1.0 million. Higher gas prices that reduced disposable income plus a weak lineup of new movies and books were cited by Hastings as key factors in the declines.

Lerner Publishing Group Launches Distribution Division

Lerner Publishing Group announced this morning that it is formalizing the distribution services it has been providing to small children’s book publishers since 2003 by launching Lerner Publisher Services.

Bookstores and Bloggers

Bloggers bring an energy about books and authors that's unfettered by the day-to-day concerns of running a bookstore. Even the names—Devourer of Books, Bookalicious, the Book Lady—imply a voracious appetite for books. For an employee discount and an opportunity to interview authors who come to the store, many bloggers are willing to create grassroots promotions by writing about bookstores on their blogs and organizing store events.

More Borders Rumors Swirl

Rumors of Borders selling a piece of its business are swirling this weekend just days after CEO Mike Edwards said in a letter to vendors that it had decided against selling the company, or parts of it, and was preparing to find a way to exit from Chapter 11 as a intact company.

ABA Partners with On Demand Books

As it continues to look toward ways to position independent booksellers to take advantage of new bookselling models, the American Booksellers Association announced that it has entered into a marketing partnership with On Demand Books, the maker of the Espresso Book Machine. Under the agreement the ABA will market the book machine to member stores. In turn, On Demand will offer a 10% discount off the up-front software license fee of $25,000 to ABA members that purchase or lease an EBM before April 5, 2012.

Bookstore Sales Fell in March

Bookstore sales continued their rollcoaster ride in early 2011. After rising in February following a January decline, bookstore sales fell again in March. According to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, March bookstore sales fell 5.8%, to $906 million. For the first quarter of 2011, bookstore sales were down 1.8%, to $4.03 billion.

Edwards Renews Call for Reasonable Trade Terms

In a letter sent shortly after the quick end of Wednesday’s omnibus hearing, Borders CEO Mike Edwards once again called on publishers to renew shipping titles to the crippled retailer on normal terms. While a number of independent presses have begun supplying Borders on a 30-day payment schedule, the larger houses have not altered from shipping on a cash basis only.

Borders Hearing Ends Abruptly

Today's Borders's hearing was a rather routine affair until lawyers for both sides approached the bench after Judge Martin Glenn asked for an update on where things stood.

Transcontinental Printing Named E-book Distributor for CBA

Transcontinental Printing has been named the official e-book distributor for the Canadian Booksellers Association. The deal, the CBA said, will allow its member stores to "create new revenue streams and bring more titles to market faster."

BAM Opening in Two St. Louis Borders

BAM is opening two stores in former Borders outlets in St. Louis, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. The stores, to be opened in the Chesterfield Mall and Mid Rivers Mall, are not Books-A-Million outlets but rather part of the entertainment retailer Vintage Stock.

Possible Borders Sale Gains Traction

The chances that Borders may be sold as one business or piecemeal appears to becoming more of a possibility. Last Friday was the deadline for the submission of bids to the company's investment bankers and financial advisors, Jeffries & Company.

Amazon As Publisher, Publishers As E-tailers

Lines between different parts of the publishing business are blurring like never before and that could not be more clearly seen than in last week’s separate announcements from Amazon and from Bookish.

The Credit Crunch Intensifies

On the surface, there may seem to be little new about booksellers facing a credit crunch. But what has changed over the past six months is a further clamping down by publishers. Credit reps have started calling to demand check information days before payments are due. Booksellers like Susan Weis-Bohlen, owner of breathe books in Baltimore, who hasn’t missed a payment in seven years, but accidentally skipped an invoice for $248, are put on credit hold or threatened with it. And a New York bookseller who asked for another week to pay off an invoice for a couple hundred dollars was advised to pull returns. With publishers acting more aggressively plus a difficult first quarter along with a dip in frontlist hardcover sales attributable to e-books, credit has emerged as a serious concern for independent booksellers.

The Drama Book Shop—Award Winner

And the winner of this year’s Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre is... the Drama Book Shop, an independent New York City bookstore dating to 1917, 30 years older than the Tony Awards.

MFA Bookstore to Close, Temporarily

Barnes & Noble Amends Lending Agreement

Barnes & Noble has reached an agreement with a group of lenders that the retailer said will lower its annual interest costs and give it more financial flexibility. The amended $1 billion revolving credit facility also extends the previous maturity date from September 29, 2013 to April 29, 2016.

As Losses Mount, Borders Ponders Path

As it struggles to find a way to become a profitable business, Borders released its 10-K filing late Friday and its first monthly reports on how the company is faring under Chapter 11.

BookMan/BookWoman Adds Something New

In a time when bookstores are adding used-book sections to bolster their diminishing numbers of new book sales (see, for example, Anderson's Books, PW's 2011 Bookstore of the Year, PW, Apr. 25), Nashville's BookMan/BookWoman used-book store has recently broadened its selection to include new titles—specifically, current bestsellers and "what we think should be bestsellers," all for sale at 20% off the cover price.

DK Booksellers Opens Tomorrow

On Friday Joseph-Beth Booksellers founder Neil Van Uum will close on the Memphis store, which will reopen as DK Booksellers, the name he chose for his new book company. In a phone conversation, Van Uum says that he is planning a complete remodel of the store and a major refresh of the inventory. He also thanked the community. "The outpouring of support in Memphis has been unbelievable," he says.