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Pottermania hits Lowcountry bookstores
By Lindsay Street
Staff Writer
Selling more than 8.3 million books in 24 hours can mean only one thing—the last installment of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has hit the bookshelves.
In the early hours of July 21, kids and adults celebrated the series’ grand finale, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”
All copies of the book sent to Ravenous Reader on James Island and All Books & Co. in Summerville were reserved prior to the release date.
The Wednesday following the release, All Books had sold all 50 of the store’s copies and most of an incoming shipment.
“We still have people begging for them,” said Michelle List, owner of All Books.
“(The book) certainly will be my best seller of the year,” echoed Pat Giancinto, owner of Ravenous Reader. “I do see a small spike (in sales).”
Even mega-bookstore Barnes & Noble experienced a sales increase from Pottermania.
The Monday following the release, Barnes & Noble reported 1.8 million copies of the book sold in the first 48 hours. More than 11 million copies were sold in the first few days of the release. The numbers shattered the store’s previous sales record, the company reported.
For the previous Harry Potter book, List had ordered more books than she sold.
List was astounded she had sold out twice and said that in the history of her store selling the series, she had not sold out so quickly.
Scholastic Inc., the U.S. publisher of the book, reported that the sixth book, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” became the fastest-selling book in history, selling 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours, when it was released on July 16, 2005.
That record was surpassed by 1.4 million copies this July when 8.3 million books were sold in 24 hours.
Despite the popularity of the Potter books, many chain and local bookstores do not rely on the orphaned wizard for their annual sales.
“(Sales are) not even that large – maybe 2 percent, maybe 1 percent (of annual sales),” List said.
A Barnes & Noble spokeswoman reported the same.
“Sales take a major jump in the kid’s department for things other than Harry Potter (when the book is released),” said Kim Brown, vice president of merchandise for Barnes & Noble.
“This series brings in a lot of customers and they do buy other items.”
The hype about the book offered independent bookstores an opportunity to increase their customer base, said Avin Mark Domnitz, CEO for American Booksellers Association, a trade association for independently owned bookstores.
However, both the Ravenous Reader and All Books said their Harry Potter customers were already loyal patrons.
“Most of our customers are regular readers. They don’t just wait for Harry Potter to come out once a year,” List said.
While many chain stores slashed prices to draw in customers, some independent stores across the nation threw Harry Potter-themed parties, Domnitz said.
“This is something that has come along that cries out for an event,” he said.
But All Books and Ravenous Reader didn’t host any parties.
“Summerville is a different kind of place,” List said. “Having a party here just wouldn’t work.”
List’s store is 500 square feet and needs to be rearranged to accommodate a book signing. List kept the release day simple but dressed up in her Hogwarts-inspired dress.
“Each store addresses its own marketing solution,” Domnitz said. “The decision to do nothing is a strategy that may fit what someone thinks their place is in the market place. Personally, I don’t find it a satisfying strategy.”
Charleston area Barnes & Noble bookstores did host Potter parties.
“Harry Potter has brought joy to a whole new generation of readers,” Brown said. “Kids are reading Harry and are picking up new authors and new series as well. Our kids’ sales are up and our teen categories are up double digits for the past six years.”
But what bookstores see anecdotally with the series cannot be proved through research.
Ongoing research by the National Endowment for the Arts has disproved that the Harry Potter series caused an increase in reading among children and teens, said Sunil Iyngar, director of research and analysis at NEA.
There still exists a trend with younger readers becoming fewer. Numbers from the NEA’s research are not currently available.
The United States is in danger of losing an entire generation of readers, Iyngar said.
“If I were an independent bookstore or publisher and I saw the data we were about to release, I’d be a little bit worried,” Iyngar said.
But at least one local bookstore owner isn’t worried.
“The sky’s not falling,” List said. “If you’ll get out there and put these books in kids’ hands, they’ll love it.”
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