B&N Hurt by HBP Discounts
Harry Potter and the Half Blood PrinceAugust 18, 2005, 05:43 PM
Barnes & Noble joins Borders in reporting difficult sales thanks to deep discounts on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Bookstores engaged in something of a price war leading up to the book release as they competed for customers. B&N is the number one US bookseller, and at the end of a quarter in which it expected much higher sales, is down 3 percent; analysts expected about $10 million more than the company reaped.
