Bookstore sales rose 1.8% in April, to $887 million, according to preliminary estimates released Tuesday morning by the U.S. Census Bureau. Boosted by a major revision in March sales which changed a 5.8% decline to a 1.1% increase, bookstore sales for the first four months of 2011 were up 0.2%, to $4.98 billion. Sales include the going-out-of business sales conducted by Borders during the spring.
For the entire retail segment, April sales rose 7.4%, to $389 million, and sales in the first four months of the year were ahead 8.0%.
