Barnes & Noble is in big trouble in more than one way

Amazon killed the bookstore. Now it's opening one

It's hard to move past a sexual harassment scandal when your business is in serious trouble.

Barnes & Noble, already reeling from the messy departure of its chief executive, said on Thursday that sales fell 6.9% last quarter.

Losses also widened, and profit dropped. That led to a sharp sell-off in Barnes & Noble stock before the opening bell.

The troubled bookstore chain fired CEO Demos Parneros in early July, citing unspecified violations of company policy. In August, Parneros sued the company in federal court for firing him without cause. Barnes & Noble then said it had let him go because of sexual harassment claims and bullying.

Barnes & Noble (BKS) has more than 600 stores in the United States, and it has been trying to trim expenses and grow revenue to generate cash. But it may not be able to turn the business around quickly enough to stay relevant.

"We fully realize that cutting expenses does not alone provide a path to the long term viability of any retail business," said Len Riggio, Barnes & Noble's chairman.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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