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U.S. Census: Bookstore Sales Down 15.6% in December

According to a poll released by the U.S. Census Bureau, bookstore sales showed a year-over-year decline of 15.6% for December to US$1.67 Billion, the sharpest drop recorded in 2011. The poll is taken from brick-and-mortar retail stores that record over 50% of their sales from books. Sales for the full year were down 0.8%, to US$15.53 billion. The decline would have factored in lost sales from the Borders retail chain, which shut down in July. The overall retail economy showed a 7.7% increase for 2011 and 5.1% for December.

Source: Publishers Weekly