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Total sales declined 1.6% at Barnes & Noble in the second quarter ended 2nd August, falling to $1.22bn, reports Publishers Weekly. Store sales were off 1.6%, to $1.1bn, while sales through Barnes & Noble.com increased 3.6% to $99.8m. Comparable store sales fell 4.7% at the physical stores in the period.
The sales declines were expected since last July B&N posted record results because of the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
However, B&N said that even excluding Hallows, comparable sales were still down 1.5%. Furthermore, the nation’s largest bookseller said that given results in the first half and current trends, it was reducing its comparable sales outlook for the full year, lowering its prediction from slightly negative to a comp decrease in low single digits. Comp sales in the third quarter are expected to decline in the low single digits as well.