Book sales at Hastings Entertainment held even at approximately $120 million, the retailer reported in its 10-k filing made to the Securities & Exchange Commission for the year ended January 31, 2008. Books accounted for 22% of Hastings's total revenue, tying it with video as the largest product category last year. Music sales fell 15%, dropping to $93 million and representing 17% of revenue. Hastings had total sales of $547 million last year, down from $548 million in the previous year. Same store sales in the year dipped 0.1%, and sales per square foot were $174.70, down slightly from $175.63. Hastings closed one store, finishing the year with 153 outlets.
Hastings said slower sales of frontlist titles was offset by strong sales of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows plus an increase in used-book sales. Hastings now carries used books in a majority of its stores, with quantities ranging from 2,000 to 20,000 copies. The new-book mix at its stores ranges from 14,000 to 64,000 copies. Hastings began carrying used products in 1992 and began offering used books in 2004. Sales of all used and “budget-priced” products rose 13% last year, to $61 million.
Looking at 2008, Hastings said it will expand its three-department “store-within-a-store concept” to six more outlets; at the end of the year, 96 stores used the three-department layout. Reacting to the dive in music sales, Hastings will reduce the space given to that category in 35 stores, a move that will provide room for expanding hotter segments, including children's books. The retailer also plans to put Hardback Coffee Cafes in seven stores, which will raise the number of outlets with cafes to 78. Thirty cafes allow customers to place drive-through orders, and five of the new cafes will also have that capability. Hastings's goShip program will be expanded from 110 stores to 139 stores during the year. Under the program, Hastings fills Internet orders for used products placed through its www.gohastings.com Web site as well as through Amazon Marketplace directly from a store's inventory. Three new stores are scheduled to be opened this year, with another six set to be expanded or relocated.
