Bookstore sales fell 4.6% in October compared to October 2016, according to preliminary estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau this morning. Sales in this past October were $684 million, down from $717 million a year ago.
The October decline marks the third consecutive month that bookstore sales declined from the comparable month in 2016. The lack of a Harry Potter blockbuster in 2017 is one reason for the drop, while soft college store sales also made an impact.
For the first 10 months of 2017, bookstore sales were down 2.9% from the comparable period in 2016, dropping to $8.84 billion.
For the entire retail segment, October sales rose 4.6% from October 2016 and sales were up 3.9% in the year to date.
