Bookstore sales continued their strong rebound in July from last year’s lockdown induced slump.
According to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, July bookstore sales jumped 63.8% over last year, rising to $716 million, from $437 million in July 2020. In July 2019, bookstore sales were $591 million, and July sales had not topped $716 million since 2012.
With the recent string of monthly gains, bookstore sales increased 34.8% in the first seven months of 2021 over the comparable period a year ago, jumping to $4.39 billion from $3.26 billion in 2020. The entire retail segment had a 15.3% sales increase in July, and sales were up 21.8% for the year to date.
