Books-A-Million same-store sales fall

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --Book retailer Books-A-Million Inc. said Thursday its holiday season same-store sales fell 2.1 percent as the absence of a major movie tie-in hurt both traffic and sales.

President and Chief Executive Sandra B. Cochran sales for the nine-weeks ended Dec. 30 were below expectations and that "a strong lineup in fiction performed well but could not offset the performance of the media-related titles in fiscal 2006."

Total sales for the period rose 0.6 percent to $124.5 million from $123.7 million last year.

Cochran said the company's best-sellers this season included John Grisham's The Innocent Man, Bill O'Reilly's Culture Warrior, Paula Deen's Celebrations and Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope.

Books-A-Million sells books on the Internet and operates 209 stores in 20 states and the District of Columbia.

Books-A-Million shares fell 35 cents to $21.49 in after-hours electronic trading, having closed earlier down 70 cents, or 3.1 percent, at $21.84 on the Nasdaq.