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
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.
Customers are hard to get and easy to lose.
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)