After falling 2.3% in the first quarter of 2012, bookstore sales bounced back a bit in April. According to estimates released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau, bookstore sales in April rose 3.8%, to $907 million. The increase in the month lowered the four month decline to 1.3%, with sales in the January-April period of $4.84 billion. Census estimates measure sales of all items sold at outlets where books represent 50% of revenue.
For the entire retail segment, sales in April rose 3.6%, while sales for the first four months of the year were up 6.9%.
