The rows of books at Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, Oregon are viewed on February 11, 2012. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)
2018 is shaping up to be an okay year for bookstores across the US. Although April sales were down over the same month in 2017, February and March were up–and so was May.
According to a report released by the US Census Bureau this week, May bookstore sales increased very slightly over the same month in 2017–0.54%–with $745 million in sales compared to last year’s $741 million. This brings the year-to-date total, through May, to $4.099 billion, which is up 0.12% over the same period in 2017 (which saw $4.094 billion in sales). Year-to-date sales are not quite up to 2016 levels, when January through May sales were at $4.201 billion. May of that year, however, was not as strong as May of 2018, with only $738 million in sales.
Looking at May in isolation, mid-$700 millions may be the new normal, after a slow decline over the past decade from much larger figures during the reign of Borders–2015 say $752 million in sales, while years previous were: 2014, $792 million; 2013, $821 million; 2012, $887 million; 2011 (the year of Borders’ closing), $936 million. Pre-Borders sales hovered in the low $1.1 billions (between 2005 and 2010, the high was $1.176, in 2006, and the low was $1.015, in 2010).
Hopefully the rest of 2018 continues in this way, bringing some much-needed stability to an industry that has faced many challenges over the past decade.
