REI Co-op adventure travel adds 10 new trips to meet demand for most popular destinations

The impact the coronavirus can have on physical stores was illustrated by the release of first quarter results by Barnes & Noble Education. For the quarter ended August 1, sales in B&NE’s retail segment dropped 42.2% from the comparable period a year ago, falling to $158.8 million. In the period, comparable store sales fell 42.8%, which B&NE said accounted for $106.6 million in lost revenue. B&NE operated 772 physical outlets in the quarter and 670 virtual stores. The company noted that since the majority of its campus stores were closed during the quarter, sales of digital textbooks increased, as did online sales of general merchandise, which includes clothing and food.

The U.S. Postal Service is implementing major changes to its delivery operations, effectively eliminating OT for carriers and informing them to leave undelivered items for the next day. This is all part of a cost-saving campaign under new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who estimates it will save the cash-strapped agency $200 million per year. Postal workers and unions as you might expect are not happy with the changes, which run counter to their mission to provide timely deliveries. A spokesman said the USPS is “developing a business plan to ensure that we will be financially stable and able to continue to provide reliable, affordable, safe and secure delivery of mail, packages and other communications to all Americans as a vital part of the nation’s critical infrastructure.”

Sales of graphic novels continue to grow—with kids and YA graphic novels the fastest growing segment—but the entire marketplace for comics is being "disrupted" and transformed by an influx of new readers and consumers looking for new kinds of comics content as well as new retail options. This was the main takeaway from Milton Griepp, who presented his annual white paper on the comics during the first day of New York Comic Con, held October 5-8 at Javits Center. Griepp, CEO of ICv2, a pop culture trade news site, presented his annual overview of comics and graphic sales and trends at the NYCC Insider Sessions. His presentation was also echoed by NPD BookScan executive director of business development Kristen McLean's presentation "A Tale of Two Cities." In her talk, McLean described the comics/graphic novel marketplace as being divided between a flat and struggling comics shop market and a “strong bookstore” channel. Click Read More below for more of the story.