BOOK STORE CHAINS SOLD THE MOST BOOKS LAST YEAR (09)

New York, NY. August 16, 2010.  In the release of its annual study, industry source Bouwker found that last year most books were purchased in large book store chains like Barnes & Noble.  Bowker has just released the “2009 Book Consumer Annual Review: U.S. Demographics and Buying Behaviors.”  Book store chains accounted for 27% of all book purchases in 2009.  This category was followed by the e-commerce segment, which sold 21% of all books.  Barnes & Noble was the largest seller with 15% share of units sold.  Amazon was the largest seller in the e-commerce segment with 13% of all book sales.  Other segments noted were book clubs with 11% of the market, and religious bookstores at 2%.  Other large retail sellers were Borders at 10% and Walmart at 6%.