This Week’s Bestsellers: February 21, 2022 (publishersweekly.com)

*Net sales of $3.55 billion, down 8% compared to last year, inclusive of an estimated 1-point foreign exchange headwind and 2 percentage points of negative impact from the sale of Gap China. - Comparable sales were down 6%. *Gross margin of 37.6% increased 310 basis points versus last year's reported gross margin and increased 160 basis points versus last year's adjusted gross margin which excluded $58 million in inventory impairment charges. *Reported operating income was $106 million; reported operating margin of 3.0%. *The effective tax rate was negative 8.3%. During the quarter, the company recorded a tax benefit as a result of a transfer pricing settlement related to its sourcing activities. *Reported net income of $117 million; reported diluted earnings per share of $0.32.

John Wiley and Sons Inc. is delighted to announce its selection by the American Fisheries Society (AFS) as publishing partner for its prestigious journals and magazine devoted to the research of aquatic sciences and fisheries resources. With more than 7,500 members globally, AFS is the world’s oldest and largest organization dedicated to strengthening the fisheries profession, advancing fisheries science, and conserving fisheries resources. Beginning in January 2018, Wiley will assume publishing responsibility for AFS’s highly esteemed journals, including its flagship title Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, the leading journals North American Journal of Fisheries Management, North American Journal of Aquaculture, Journal of Aquatic Animal Health, and its premier Open Access publication, Marine and Coastal Fisheries. Wiley will also publish the Society’s renowned magazine, Fisheries. Click Read More below for additional detail.

The Postal Service’s proposal appears to target mail that consistently fails to meet service performance goals and has the most opportunity for improvement. However, the Commission is concerned that the Postal Service did not conduct any operational or pilot testing of its proposed service standard changes. The Commission finds this lack of testing problematic as mail processing is complex and requires timely execution to provide reliable service performance. In addition, the Commission notes that the Postal Service’s estimated annual cost savings for the proposed service standard changes do not indicate much improvement, if any, to the Postal Service’s current financial condition. Rather, the estimated cost savings from extending the service standard would be eliminated by additional costs associated with the growth in packages. Therefore, it is not clear that the tradeoff between financial viability and maintaining high-quality service standards is reasonable. Likewise, the Postal Service concludes that any reduction in First-Class Mail and Periodical volume due to its proposal will be modest, but that conclusion is premised upon analysis of customer satisfaction and demand that relies on numerous unproven assumptions. The Commission encourages the Postal Service to consider the full recommendations outlined in its advisory opinion prior to implementing its plan. The Postal Service should: *Regularly update and publicly communicate realistic targets throughout its implementation *Ensure cost savings are realized but balanced with and not prioritized over maintaining high-quality service standards *Closely monitor the implementation of its plan to determine whether the new potential surface transportation network actually increases efficiency and capacity utilization *Monitor more closely customer satisfaction going forward, particularly for customer and mailer segments that the change may most impact *Be more transparent in the feedback it receives from stakeholders and keep its plan flexible to the needs of customers, stakeholders, and the general public *Not rely upon its filed econometric analysis to estimate the impact of the proposed service changes on volume