Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
It's a decent little bump, but I think the idea that it "really helped" them overstates the case a bit.
Chains lost 2.8% of the market from 2010 to 2011. Meanwhile, indies gained 1.3%. That's a pretty decent bump for the indies,and seems like it might be connected with the chain's loss.
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Try basing it on the indies' share:
In two years they went from 2.4 to 3.7%; that is a 54% boost in sales.
Indies are small, usually family-owned businesses: Any individual bookstore that gets 50% more sales in two years has to be feeling good.
More realistically, the boost is lower because the number of indie stores has stopped declining and is instead growing slightly. On the other hand, the industry as a whole is still growing revenue so even a steady share means increased revenue. And since we're talking a roughly $7Billion business, that 1.3% increase works out to an extra $90M in sales. Hardly peanuts.
As we heard, last XMAS the ABA indies reported an average of 8% higher sales for the holidays. No mirage, that. And as B&N closes down more stores in their programmed down-sizing the opportunities for indies will grow.