Total revenues in the second quarter ended July 31 at Hastings Entertainment rose 2.3% to $125.9 million and net income jumped to $1.9 million from $200,000 in the same period in 2006. (The gain in net income was aided by "a benefit reducing income tax expense" of $900,000 from "a favorable settlement of a prior year's state tax liability.")

Total revenues at stores open at least a year rose 2.2%. Sales of books at stores open a year rose 6.9% compared to a drop of 2.9% in the second quarter last year. Book sales magic had to do with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: the company said total sales of HP7 were $1.8 million. During the six months ended July 31, comp-store sales of books were up 2.8% compared to flat in the first six months of 2006.

Among categories with stronger comp-store sales in the quarter were electronics, up 32.3%; trends, up 18.9%; video games, up 14%; movies, up 10.6%; and the Hard Back Café, up 9.4%. By contrast, music sales dropped 14.2% and consumables rose 5.5%.

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Congratulations to Nancy Olson, owner of Quail Ridge Books & Music, Raleigh, N.C., who we hear has been inducted into the Raleigh Hall of Fame for her advocacy of locally owned businesses, her commitment to literacy programs and for putting Raleigh on the nation's literary map.

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Susan Harwood has joined Borders Group as chief information officer. She was formerly v-p of information technology at Books-A-Million, a position she held since 2001. Before that, she worked for Crown Books from 1995 to 2001, most recently as v-p, information technology, and chief information officer.

Among other responsibilities, Harwood will play "a key role" in technology support for the development of Borders.com, which the company is launching on its own early next year.