US bookshop chain Barnes & Noble blames election for sluggish sales
US bookshop chain Barnes & Noble is hoping it can sell more books now the distraction of the US election is over.
The company has had another losing quarter, this time it says because of the race for the White House sucking up too much of everyone’s time.
“We did experience sluggish sales, which we believe are directly related to the election cycle,” said chairman and chief executive Len Riggio.
Riggio expects that the coming holiday season to be a boost for sales.
“With the election behind us, we hope and expect sales will improve over the holidays,” he added.
Over all, Barnes & Noble reported a loss of $20.4m, or 29 cents a share, compared with a loss of $39.2m in the same period last year.
The loss was not as bad as analysts had feared it could be however, who had projected a 34 cents a share loss.
Despite the narrowing loss, sales slid, dropping by some four per cent to $858.5m.
Wall Street had pencilled in revenue of $859.1m. Sales of Nook e-readers fell 19 per cent as the company battles against tough competition from the likes of online retailer Amazon.