More good news, bad news about general retail sales, which in
November rose 4%, according to the Thomson Financial Same Store Sales
Index, quoted by the Wall Street Journal. The International
Council of Shopping Centers said sales at big chain stores rose 3.5% in
November. According to Retail Metrics, via the New York Times, 52% of retailers surveyed had sales above analysts' expectations while 45% missed forecasts.
Luxury stores like Saks and Nordstrom continued to do well, but
slightly more middle-income consumers--not just low-income
people--curbed spending because of rising energy costs and housing and
credit woes.
"The high end is shopping, the middle is trading down and everyone
continues to buy their paper towels and Fruit Loops," Todd Slater of
Lazard Capital Markets wrote.
At Target, the discounter frequented by people with high incomes, sales
at stores open at least a year rose 10.8% in November. But the company
said that without the extra week of holiday sales because of an early
Thanksgiving, comp-store sales would have been up just 1.1%. Target
also said that December sales may be below forecasts.
Stores with healthy comp-store sales included Saks, up 25.7%, Macy's, up 13.4%, Kohl's, up 10.2% and Nordstrom, up 8.7%.
Wal-Mart's same-store sales rose 1.5%; the company called early holiday
result "solid." Abercrombie & Fitch was up 2%; the Gap was even,
and the Limited fell 7%.
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Congratulations to Books & Books,
which today at 3 p.m. officially opens its store in Camana Bay in the
Cayman Islands. Books & Books is celebrating by inviting the local
writing community to be guests of honor at an in-store reception and
signing this evening. Authors attending include Shane Aquart,
Karie Bergrstrom, Roy Bodden, Fred Burton, Cathy Church, Cleopatra
Conolly, Barbara Currie Dailey, Sheree Ebanks, Henry Muttoo, Eme and
Hector Paschalides, Courtney Platt, Corine Solomon and Suzy Soto.
On Saturday morning, Books & Books is hosting a reading for young
readers and hosting crafts stalls. Saturday afternoon
Steven Raichlen, author of the Barbecue Bible books and Miami Spice: The New Florida Cuisine, will conduct a slideshow and grilling presentation.
Later in the afternoon, the store will host an event called South
Florida Meets the Caribbean, introduced by Books & Books owner
Mitchell Kaplan and Akashic Books editor-in-chief Johnny Temple. Among
the authors who will read: Les Standiford and John Dufresne from
Florida, Marlon James from Jamaica, Lisa Allen-Agostini from Trinidad
and Ana Menendez, the daughter of Cuban exiles.
Saturday evening's events include a Barbecue Cayman Style, featuring food and music.
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Atonement, which opens today, is sweeping away many movie critics. Consider this from Joe Morgenstern in today's Wall Street Journal:
"This screen version [of a great work of contemporary fiction] stands
on its own as a singular achievement--romantic, sensuous, intelligent
and finally shattering in its sweep and thematic complexity."
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A
onetime Barnes & Noble executive, Michael G. Archbold has joined
the board of directors of Borders Group. Currently executive v-p, COO and
CFO of the Vitamin Shoppe, Archbold earlier was executive v-p, CFO and
CAO of Saks Fifth Avenue (Borders CEO George Jones was president and
CEO of Saks's department store group); executive v-p and CFO of
AutoZone; and from 1996 to 2002 v-p and CFO of the booksellers division
of B&N. A CPA, he began his career at Price Waterhouse.
In other Borders news, the board approved a cash dividend of 11 cents a
share payable on February 10, maintaining the regular dividend rate.
Also, the company ranked No. 1 for providing an enjoyable customer
shopping experience among 112 companies surveyed by Forrester Research
for its first Customer Experience Index. Including three customer
experience measures, Borders was ranked No. 2 nationally and was among
the 10% of the 112 companies to receive an overall rating of
"excellent."
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The
design commission of the city of La Cañada Flintridge has approved
plans for the new Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeehouse, the La Cañada Valley Sun reported.
Store owners Peter and Lenora Wannier bought the property 18 months ago
and are planning to move from a rented 4,500-sq.-ft. space nearby into
a new 6,400-sq.-ft. building that will include underground parking. The
extra space will be used to expand the coffee bar and for a cookware
retail store.
The building should be completed in about a year.
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Tor
Books, best known for science fiction, and Seven Seas
Entertainment, one of the few publishers of original manga in the U.S.,
have formed an imprint that will "jointly acquire and co-publish
some of Japan's bestselling and most exciting manga series, light
novels and other fiction." In addition, Tor will distribute new Seven
Seas titles every month under the Seven Seas imprint.
In August 2008, Tor/Seven Seas will publish its first collaborative book: the manga Afro Samurai, written and illustrated by Takashi Okazaki, released in the U.S. for the first time. Afro Samurai
was the basis for the Spike TV anime series this year that featured the
voices of Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Perlman and Kelly Hu. The book's
publication here precedes the release in the fall of an Afro Samurai video game from Namco and the launch of Spike TV's second Afro Samurai season.
The first light novels will be published in March and include Ballad of a Shinigami, Pita-Ten and Strawberry Panic.
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El Codigo Da Vinci, the Spanish-language translation of Dan
Brown's bestseller, is the single-most important reason for why U.S.
publishers and booksellers are paying more attention to the
Spanish-language market, according to the Arizona Star. Some 300,000 copies of El Codigo Da Vinci sold, more than 10 times the sales of typical Spanish-language titles. The trend continues, exemplified by El Secreto, the translation of Rhonda Byrne's The Secret, which has more than 245,000 copies in print and is selling well.
Among changes in the past few years: publishers are releasing English-
and Spanish-language versions of titles simultaneously; publishers have
established Spanish-language divisions; bookstore chains have expanded
Spanish-book buying and marketing departments.
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Reminder to ABA members: after only three weeks, more than 60% of the available rooms at the Hotel ABA at BEA in Los Angeles have been reserved. ABA members who want to book space in the hotel, where nearly 1,000 booksellers are expected to stay, should register online at cwp.marriott.com/laxrh/americanbooksellers/.