The big bookstore chains are not the only companies reporting strong holiday sales. Random House spokesperson Stuart Applebaum said the company "had a tremendous fourth quarter and a very strong finish to its fiscal year."
He said the tracking of point-of-sale information at RH's major accounts revealed that the publisher had "the greatest holiday sales season" since the RH merger with Bantam Doubleday Dell in 1998. In addition, Applebaum said that according to BookScan figures, RH "significantly" improved its market share in 2003. PW's tabulation of bestsellers showed that RH's share increased 3.2% in 2003.
RH's final figures will be released in March; its parent company, Bertelsmann, will report results in euros rather than dollars.
