News

Borders adding teen sections, taking real estate away from music/DVD departments

July 21, 2009

Borders, the second largest bookstore chain in the United States, is taking away some floor space from its music and DVD departments in order to build new areas aimed at teen and tween shoppers.

The New York Times reports that the new shops will be called Borders Ink, and will feature graphic novels, plus fantasy and young-adult fiction and a selection of merchandise aimed at that demographic.

The timing appears to be perfect, as the teen/tween book market is one of the few segments that is thriving right now, thanks to titles like Stephanie Meyer's "Twilight" and the enduring appeal of the Harry Potter books:

At a time when book retailing is slumping, young-adult titles and graphic novels are still delivering growth. Albert N. Greco, a professor at the Fordham University's Graduate School of Business Administration who studies the book industry, estimates that young-adult fiction, fantasy and science fiction will generate $744.3 million in U.S. publisher revenue this year, up 13% from $659.1 million in 2008. That compares with U.S. publisher revenue of an estimated $9.73 billion for consumer books as a whole, a 4.7% decline from 2008's sales, according to Mr. Greco.