Barnes & Noble to Cut Back on New Store Openings

Barnes & Noble Inc. (New York) has reported a 15 percent drop in second quarter net income and said it is cutting next year's new openings from historic levels because it cannot find enough suitable real estate.

“Due to the reduced availability of desirable retail locations going forward, we currently expect only 20 to 25 new store openings in 2009,” said cfo Joseph Lombardi.

The nation’s largest book retailer has been hurt by the turbulent economy, as most other retailers have, and also by comparisons to a year ago, when the July release of the final installment in the “Harry Potter” series drove record-setting sales. The retailer’s total sales in the quarter slid 1.6 percent and same-store sales declined 4.7 percent. However, said Lombardi, if you excluded the figures for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the same-store drop would have been just 1.5 percent. It was the top-selling title in the company’s history.

“People have been painting apocalyptic scenarios for the last 10 years, but in the midst of a horrible environment, we sold more books than last year,” said ceo Steve Riggio. “We're very pleased that we managed to beat the bottom line of what was expected of us, and that we did so substantially.”