Amazon.com and Noodle Kidoodle, two relatively new channels for selling books, reported strong sales gains for the holiday season.
Amazon.com said that sales in the fourth quarter totaled approximately $250 million, compared to $66 million in the fourth quarter of 1997. According to Amazon, between November 17 and December 31, the online service added more than one million new customers and shipped more than 7.5 million books, videos, DVDs and CDs. Fourth- quarter sales of $250 million, combined with nine-month sales of $357 million, pushed Amazon's total revenues in 1998 to approximately $607 million, compared to $148 million in 1997.
Despite the sales gain, company executives warned that the increases will not translate into correspondingly lower net losses in the fourth quarter. According to Amazon.com chief financial officer Joy Covey, "Significant sales of video and music lowered gross margins, as did aggressive pricing." Covey added that margins were also hurt by higher fulfillment expenses.
Sales at Noodle Kidoodle rose 36% between November 1 and December 26, to $43.4 million. Same-store sales for the period were up 12%. Company chairman Stanley Greenman said sales were up in all geographic locations and in all store categories. Sales through the company's Web site were up significantly, Greenman said, but still represented less than 1% of the company's total sales.
The company also announced that it has signed leases to add stores in the coming year in Miami, Houston, Knoxville, Tenn., and Little Rock, Ark. Noodle Kidoodle, which earlier announced plans to open four other new stores, said it intends to open at least 10 outlets this year.
Wal-Mart Sues in Washington
On the legal front, Wal-Mart has filed a second lawsuit against Amazon.com, charging the company with trying to steal trade secrets. The new complaint was filed last week in the State of Washington after an Arkansas judge ruled that while he had jurisdiction to hear charges against Amazon, he did not have jurisdiction to rule on claims against Richard Dalzell. In October, Wal-Mart sued Amazon, its chief information officer Dalzell, Drugstore.com and the investment group Kleiner Perkins Caufield &Byers, charging the various parties with misappropriation of proprietary information (News, Oct. 26, 1998).
