Shelf Awareness for Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Quotation of the Day
News
Notes: HMV Suitor Gives Up; Michaels for Sale
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Speaking of private equity firms, Michaels Stores, the arts-and-crafts retailer with 1,066 stores that sell a significant amount of related books, is exploring "strategic alternatives," according to yesterday's Wall Street Journal. Currently retail is a juicy target for cash-laden leveraged buyout firms, and Michaels may be all the more enticing because it has no debt. Wall Street showed an interest: yesterday Michaels stock closed at $38.35, up 13%.
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The Minnesota Daily, the student paper of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, profiles the strong ties between the school and the Amazon Bookstore Cooperative, the 36-year-old feminist bookstore. For example, "During the first two weeks of every semester, members of the cooperative set up shop in the University Technology Enterprise Center . . . as a way to connect with a broader audience that normally wouldn't make it to the store. It's also a way to offer students enrolled in specific courses the books they need that aren't available at traditional bookstores.
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In the Hollywood Economist column in Slate, Edward Jay Epstein details Wal-Mart's plans to set up in-store kiosks to burn movie DVDs in its stores (and pay a licensing fee to studios that may be $3-$4).
"The advantage to the customer would be that he could choose a title from among the tens of thousands of movies in the studios' libraries, and also possibly have it in the language and rated-version (G, PG, R, or NC-17) he prefers, while the studios would save the cost of manufacturing, packaging warehousing, and returns."
Are books far behind?
Thanks to Allan Lang for the tip!
BAM Results Up; Insurance Pays for Three Wrecked Stores
Net sales at BAM in the fourth quarter rose 8.1% to $161.1 million, while net income increased 21.7% to $11.2 million. For the full year net sales rose 6.3% to $503.8 million, and net income rose 28.4% to $13.1 million. Results for the full year included $754,000 in gains, net of taxes, from insurance for three stores demolished by hurricanes last year.
Sales at stores open at least a year rose 4.1% in the quarter and 3.3% for the full year.
"Sales were positive across a broad range of categories," Sandra B. Cochran, president and CEO, said in a statement. "Our core book business performed well, as did the gift business and the bargain book category. Children's books, teen fiction, biography, inspirational books and cooking all contributed to the solid results in comparable store sales. Bestsellers for the season included James Frey's Million Little Pieces, Nicholas Sparks's At First Sight, titles related to The Chronicles of Narnia and new books from James Patterson, Jimmy Carter, Patricia Cornwell and Paula Deen."
The only negative note: "The café business is increasingly competitive, and this trend has adversely impacted sales in the hot drink category," Cochran said.
In other financial news, BAM has increased its quarterly dividend to eight cents per share from five cents. The company also indicated that it will no longer estimate future earnings, explaining that "the company believes this change will serve the interest of its shareholders as management focuses on the achievement of long-term objectives."
AMS's Latest Restatement; Sales Drift Downward
AMS blamed the recent drops in sales on "the effects of the previously disclosed loss of customer and market share" and drops in earnings in part on legal and accounting costs relating to government investigations, private securities litigation and restatements. The company expects sales of its current businesses to drop in the coming fiscal year because of "the expected loss of additional market share at one of the company's three major warehouse club customers, offset somewhat by expected growth in other areas of the existing business."
AMS also said that senior management is reviewing the company's strategic business plan. "The company is pursuing new product lines and new services, and believes it can leverage its supply chain strengths, its specialized merchandising expertise, and its customer and supplier relationships into future growth opportunities."
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Media and Movies
Media Heat: Kevin Phillips; Markus Zusak
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Today on WAMU's Diane Rehm Show: Erica Jong, author of Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life (Tarcher, $22.95, 1585424447).
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Today on NPR's Fresh Air: Kevin Phillips, whose new book is American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century (Viking, $26.95, 067003486X). He appears today on WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show, too.
Also appearing on the Lopate Show today:
- Tim Flannery, author of Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth (Atlantic Monthly, $24, 0871139359).
- Eric Scigliano, author of Michelangelo's Mountain: The Quest For Perfection in the Marble Quarries of Carrara (Free Press, $26, 0743254775).
- Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief (Knopf Books for Young Readers, $16.95, 0375831002).
Books & Authors
Audiobook of the Year Finalists
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling, read by Jim Dale (Listening Library, $75, 0307283658)
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Tertiary Phase by Douglas Adams, read by a full cast (BBC Audiobooks/Audio Partners, $29.95, 1572704691)
- The Truth (with Jokes) written and read by Al Franken (Brilliance Audio, $38.95, 1596000600)
The award will be given on Friday, May 19, at the Audie Awards gala event at BEA. (Which accounts for the many people dressed to the nines that evening.) Past winners are Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in the award's inaugural year and My Life by Bill Clinton last year. For more information about the Audiobook of the Year, the Audie Awards and the Audio Publishers Association, please visit www.audiopub.org.--Ellen Myrick
Calling All Digital Writing: Press Seeks Contributions
The press said that competition is open to "any and every technology topic--biotech, information technology, gadgetry, tech policy, Silicon Valley and software engineering." The pieces should written for a mass audience, with preference to "narrative features and profiles, 'Big Think' op-eds that make sense, investigative journalism, sharp art and design criticism, intelligent policy analysis, and heartfelt personal essays." They should be no longer than 5,000 words and should explore how technological progress is reshaping the world.
The Best of Technology Writing 2006 will be available in book form and, appropriately, online, and include an introduction by Brendan I. Koerner, a contributing editor for Wired, columnist for the New York Times and Slate and a fellow at the New America Foundation.
Attainment: New Books Next Week, Vol. 2
Bump in the Night by J.D. Robb et al. (Jove, $7.99, 0515141178). An anthology of paranormal romances including one by Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb.
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Dark Demon by Christine Feehan (Jove, $9.99, 0515140880). A female vampire slayer warms the blood of Vikirnoff the Carpathian.
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The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg (Ballantine, $13.95, 0812970993). Now in paperback, this novel probes the life of a 55-year-old children's author, recently widowed, who sells her house and starts a new life.
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Mother-Daughter Wisdom: Creating a Legacy of Physical and Emotional Health by Christiane Northrup (Bantam, $18, 0553380125). Now in paperback from the author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom.