Retail sales benefited from higher Nook sales, and demand for trilogies including "The Hunger Games" and "Fifty Shades of Grey."

Excluding Nook sales, revenue in stores open at least one year rose 7 percent for the quarter.

Nook device sales fell during the quarter due to higher third-party channel partner returns, lower selling volume and lower average prices, the company said.

Barnes & Noble said that it took back Nook Simple Touch inventory in order to make room in the supply chain for new products like its Nook Tablet. The $99 Simple Touch is Barnes & Noble's most basic e-reader. Barnes & Noble introduced the flashier $199 Nook Tablet, with a touch screen and tablet features, in November 2011.

The New York company struck a deal in April with Microsoft Corp. to help support its Nook business. Microsoft will invest $300 million to help create a subsidiary for Barnes & Noble's e-book and college textbook businesses, giving it a long-desired foothold that space. Microsoft receives a 17.6 percent stake in the venture.

For the fiscal year, its net loss narrowed to $68.9 million, or $1.41 per share, from $73.9 million, or $1.31 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose nearly 2 percent to $7.13 billion from $7 billion a year ago.