Books-A-Million <BAMM.O> stock soars on discounts
NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - Shares in Books-A-Million Inc.
surged in heavy trade Tuesday after the bookstore chain's Web
unit offered deeper bestseller discounts for some customers
than its online rivals.
Books-A-Million was up 2-5/32, or 25 percent, to 10-7/8.
Volume by early afternoon was more than 13 times normal
daily levels, placing Books-A-Million among the volume leaders
on Nasdaq.
Birmingham, Ala.-based Books-A-Million, the No. 3 U.S. book
chain, is in an online price war with Internet competitors
Amazon.com Inc. <AMZN.O>, Barnes & Noble Inc. <BKS.N> and
Borders Group Inc. <BGP.N>.
On Monday, Amazon.com, the No.1 online retailer, said it
would cut prices up to 50 percent on every book listed on The
New York Times' bestseller lists. Barnes & Noble's and Borders'
Internet units matched the discount for online orders within
hours.
Books-A-Million said Tuesday its online unit,
Booksamillion.com (www.booksamillion.com), was offering
discounts of 55 percent on New York Times' bestsellers for
members of its discount Millionaires Club.
It also deepened discounts on other books for club members.
Regular buyers will get discounts that match the Amazon.com
cuts.
Terrance Finley, Booksamillion.com's president, said the
cuts had gone into effect Monday.
"We did it yesterday morning, as soon as I saw the Amazon
price change," he said in a telephone interview.
REUTERS
Rtr 18:48 05-18-99 |
