While Barnes & Noble saw a decline in sales and store traffic, the fall wasn’t as steep as expected. Sales declined 4& to $1.11 billion and a net loss of #2.1 million for the first quarter 09. April was the best month in terms of sales and that non fiction bestsellers had an “uptick”. B&N.com sales were lower despite increased traffic because of “lower conversion rates of visitors to the site.” The CEO notes that digital books are a growing competition to in store sales. See more at Publisher’s Weekly.
Books-A-Million actually posted a 2 % increase in sales during the first quarter, with revenue hitting $118.2 million with same store sales falling just slightly. “The decline in comp sales was attributed to sluggish store traffic and price-sensitive consumers.”Publisher’s Weekly.
