Barnes & Noble and Borders Group both reported last week that holiday sales easily beat their original forecasts.
"We did a lot of things right," Barnes & Noble chairman Len Riggio told PW in explaining why holiday sales were better than the retailer had been expecting. Comparable-store sales at B&N's superstores, once forecasted to increase by no more than 2.5% during the holidays, rose 5.5% in the nine-week period from November 4 to January 5. Total sales at the superstores increased 13.2%, to $864.5 million. At Dalton, same-store sales were off 3.6% in the period, and total sales were down 13.3%, to $93 million.
While Riggio said he was pleased with the performance, he observed, "We didn't have a great Christmas [in 2000], which made comparisons easier." He noted that the results bear out his theory that book retailing is not as cyclical as most other retail businesses.
Riggio attributed some of the holiday success to strong sales from small publishers. "We carry lots of titles from the smaller houses, and many did very well," Riggio said. In his view, pricing played a key role in boosting sales from independent publishers. Independents "are clearly more conscious about pricing" than publishers that are part of media conglomerates and who price by formula, he said. "Smaller publishers tend to be run by people who own them and they price appropriately," Riggio continued.
But Riggio stressed that he holds no ill will toward the large publishers. "One reason I was glad we could put out some good news was to counter some of the negative news" that has been in the press, Riggio said. "I don't want to see the industry retrench. Cutting editors and titles isn't good for anyone" in the book industry, he declared.
At Borders, comparable store sales rose 5.1% in the November 25 through January 6 span at the company's superstore group, and were up 3.9% for the quarter to-date. In November, Borders executives had been looking for same-store sales in the division to be up by no more than 2.0% for the fourth quarter. Waldenbooks comparable-store performance soared well beyond previous predictions that same-store sales would fall 4% to 5% in the quarter; comp sales at mall-based outlets rose 3.7% in the holiday period and were up 2.1% for the quarter.
Borders president Greg Josefowicz said the successful holiday season resulted from "record superstore traffic and a healthy increase in average ticket." The company's core book business did well, and sales were strong for Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings merchandise. DVD product also sold well.
