For the quarter, Barnes & Noble reported a same-store sales gain of 0.9% and a year-over-year revenue increase of 4%, to $894.9 million. It opened nine Barnes & Nobles over the quarter and closed three, leaving the company with 663 units in the chain. Barnes & Noble's mall-based B. Dalton, which represents 3% of its sales, reported a same-store sales drop of 3.3%, and the retailer closed seven stores, leaving it with 176. "A slowdown in bestsellers certainly hurt the top line," noted Joseph J. Lombardi, the company's CFO during a conference call with analysts and investors.
During the quarter, political books were the company's best sellers. Barnes & Noble plans to open 30 to 40 of its book and music superstores per year and continue closing B. Dalton units, company officials said.
Meanwhile, GameStop posted a 11.8% same-store sales jump of 11.8% on revenues of $416.7 million. That company, based in Grapevine, TX, opened 72 stores during the quarter. The launch of new PlayStation and Xbox video game products helped the company's sales, officials say.
Barnes & Noble announced the GameStop spin-off last month. The bookseller acquired a majority interest in GameStop in 1999. Officials say the $400 million investment in the video game chain turned out to be worth more than $850 million.
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