From Publishers Weekly:
Revenue fell 8.1% at Barnes & Noble Education in the second quarter ended October 27, 2018, compared to the second quarter last year. In the crucial back-to-school period, total sales were $814.7 million, down from $886.9 million a year ago. Operating income slipped to $78.5 million from $83.3 million, but net income, thanks to $16 million in lower taxes, rose 8.3%, to $59.7 million.
At the company’s largest operating group, B&N College, sales decreased 7.2%, to $702.8 million, compared to the prior year period. B&NE blamed the decline primarily on a 5.6% drop in comparable store sales, which it said was largely due to lower textbook sales.
Revenue at the MBS Textbook Exchange division fell 11.8%, to $118.9 million, in the quarter. Sales at the MBS Wholesale unit dropped 20.2% compared to last year’s second quarter, due to what B&NE said was lower rental revenue plus lower net sales of traditional wholesale textbooks. At MBS Direct, sales fell 7.2%, due to lower sales from Higher Ed accounts and net new stores, the company said.
Link to the rest at Publishers Weekly
I found this article interesting, even though it’s 3 years old now.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/In-Students-Minds-Textbooks/231455
Especially this quote… (emphasis mine)
Customers are hard to get and easy to lose.
Of course this has nothing to do with students (and not just a few teachers) finding other ways to avoid paying for overpriced-can’t-be-used-next-year books.