Multimedia retailer Hastings Entertainment reported a net loss of approximately $4.1 million for the three month period ending July 31, 2013, an increase from a net loss of $3.4 million reported for the same second quarter period ended July 31, 2012. Comparable store results for books at Hastings are down 14.9% from the same period in 2012.
John H. Marmaduke, chief executive officer and chairman of Hastings, blamed the decline on the “popularity of digital delivery, rental kiosks and subscription based services, as well as the longevity of the current video game console life-cycle.” He also blamed a weak release schedule for new books, and a decline in the sales of the Fifty Shades trilogy. Marmaduke noted that Fifty shades accounted for “over half of our decline in book revenues” in the second quarter of fiscal 2013.
