In the sixth month of data reflecting public health measures taken to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, including the closure of many bookstores for a time and limited access since then, in August sales at bookstores dropped 30.7%, to $754 million, compared to August 2019, according to preliminary Census Bureau estimates.
The drop reversed the trend of the previous three months of drops that were not as severe as the previous months, with sales slowly climbing. For example, in July, bookstore sales fell 24.7%, in June, bookstore sales were down 35.4%, and in May, bookstores sales were off 59.9%. August sales figures likely reflected big sales drops at college stores at a time when many schools were unsure how and if they would open and many students were opting not to attend the fall semester.
During the first eight months of the year, bookstore sales fell 31.4%, to $3.9 billion.
Total retail sales in August rose 0.3%, to $546.7 billion. During the first eight months of the year, total retail sales fell 1.8%, to $3.99 trillion.
Note: under Census Bureau definitions, the bookstore category consists of "establishments primarily engaged in retailing new books." The Bureau also added this unusual caution: "Due to recent events surrounding COVID-19, many businesses are operating on a limited capacity or have ceased operations completely. The Census Bureau has monitored response and data quality and determined estimates in this release meet publication standards."