Books-A-Million’s CEO Says Readers Have Changed—and So Has What Sells

Books-A-Million is in “growth mode,” and CEO Terry Finley says the biggest shift in book retail isn’t just formats or trends—it’s who is walking through the doors.

On Open Road’s Open Book podcast, Finley told host David Steinberger that BAM’s longtime “core” customer used to be a 45-year-old married mom with a college education and solid household income. Today, that audience has swung “much younger”: roughly 18–40 and still majority female.

From “tentpole authors” to trend-driven discovery

Finley argues the old retail model—where a single blockbuster author could dominate weekly sales—doesn’t hit the same way anymore. He pointed to the difference between past releases (think the kind of mega-weeks a new Dan Brown title once delivered) and today’s landscape, where sales are spread across more titles and more micro-trends.

Instead of readers coming in for one household name, BAM is seeing demand driven by clusters: romantasy, BookTok-fueled fiction, and other fast-moving discovery lanes.

What’s hot now

Finley also flagged category momentum in stores: manga/anime-related buying remains a major driver, and he described horror as a current surge category while noting romantasy has “peaked.”

How BAM competes (and why they’re opening stores)

While Amazon can undercut prices, Finley’s pitch is that BAM wins by serving local communities—showing up where people already shop and creating a browsing experience Amazon can’t replicate.

And they’re investing accordingly: BAM has about 220 stores and opened 15 in 2025, with Finley describing the business as strong enough to justify expansion.

The takeaway

If Finley’s read is right, the “new” book buyer is younger, more trend-responsive, and less loyal to a single megastar author—so retailers are adapting by leaning into discovery categories, community footprint, and merchandise-adjacent fandom engines that keep people coming back.