Barnes & Noble Slides in 3Q

New York City Barnes & Noble reported Thursday that sales for the third quarter ended Nov. 1, were $1.12 billion, a 4.4% decrease from $1.18 billion in the third quarter 2007. Same-store sales fell 7.4% for the quarter. The company reported a 3Q loss of $18.4 million.

The company blamed results on a significant drop in customer traffic and related spending.

Barnes & Noble also expects same-store sales to drop 6% to 9% in the fourth quarter and 5% to 6% for the full year.

As of Nov. 1, the company operated 728 Barnes & Noble stores and 71 B. Dalton stores. During the third quarter, nine Barnes & Noble stores were opened and four were closed. Two B. Dalton stores were closed during the quarter.