B&NE Retail Segment Took Big Hit in Q1 (publishersweekly.com)

The impact the coronavirus can have on physical stores was illustrated by the release of first quarter results by Barnes & Noble Education. For the quarter ended August 1, sales in B&NE’s retail segment dropped 42.2% from the comparable period a year ago, falling to $158.8 million. In the period, comparable store sales fell 42.8%, which B&NE said accounted for $106.6 million in lost revenue.

B&NE operated 772 physical outlets in the quarter and 670 virtual stores. The company noted that since the majority of its campus stores were closed during the quarter, sales of digital textbooks increased, as did online sales of general merchandise, which includes clothing and food.

While online sales of general merchandise nearly doubled over last year and accounted for 55% of total general merchandise sales compared to 9% a year ago, the increase was not nearly enough to counter the loss of its in-store business. To mitigate the impact of the sales decline in its stores, B&NE has reduced expenses by $26.8 million through furloughs and other cost reduction initiatives.
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