Sales Softened in July

Sales in the trade and elhi segments fell in July, but rose in the professional and higher education categories, according to the AAP's monthly sales estimates. Sales declined in all trade segments in July, with the exception of children's paperback, which had an 8.4% increase. The biggest declines were in the mass market paperback and children's hardcover segments, which had a 31.4% and 45.6% drop, respectively. Sales in both segments were also well behind last year's pace for the first seven months of the year, with mass market sales down 8.9% and children's hardcover off 40%. In the elhi segment, a 4% decline in basal sales offset a 26.5% increase in supplementary sales, resulting in a 1.2% decline for the entire category. The higher education segment posted a 4.3% increase in the important July sales month, helping to boost to-date sales by 3.2%. Sales in the professional segment increased 26.1% in July and 7.2% for the first seven months of 2004.