Barnes & Noble Celebrates Potter Wizardry: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Sweepstakes; Harry Potter Gift Card; Midnight Magic Parties on Friday, June 20th.

Entertainment Editors/Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 2003

To celebrate the arrival of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller, announced today more magical wizardry. A Harry Potter sweepstakes will begin on June 1st, with hundreds of special prizes as well as a grand prizewinner. A special Harry Potter gift card will be issued, and "Midnight Magic" parties will be held on Friday, June 20th, at participating Barnes & Noble stores throughout the country.

Beginning June 1, Barnes & Noble will kick off its Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Sweepstakes. Customers can pick up a special decoder card at any Barnes & Noble store and log on to Barnes & Noble's special sweepstakes Web site, www.harrypottersweeps.com, to win hundreds of prizes. The grand prize is an all-expenses-paid trip for four to Harry Potter's England. No purchase is necessary. Four decoder cards make up the collector set, and the sweepstakes winner will be announced on July 1, 2003.

Barnes & Noble is also producing a special edition of its popular gift card that features artwork from the latest Harry Potter book cover. Gift cards are available in any denomination from $5 on up and are redeemable at any Barnes & Noble store and online at Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com).

During the Memorial Day weekend, Barnes & Noble stores will look like a scene out of a Harry Potter novel with larger-than-life Harry Potter signs and banners, letting customers know that they can reserve their own copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for pick up on the day it lands on the shelves, midnight on Friday, June 20th.

On June 20th, many Barnes & Noble stores nationwide will be transformed into "Harry Potter Town," staying open past midnight to accommodate fans and planning special parties complete with costumes, games, and wizardry of all kinds. A special treat for those who attend is a free keepsake photograph of you with Harry Potter in a specially designed frame. Tens of thousands of children and adults are expected to be on hand as the clock strikes midnight to ensure that they get their copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as soon as possible. Parents are encouraged to bring their children for a night of magic, stories and Harry Potter.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is available for pre-order at Barnes & Noble stores and online at Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com). Hundreds of thousands of pre-orders have already been received, and

the title has topped the bestseller list at Barnes & Noble.com since January, when the book's publication date was announced.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is the world's largest bookseller, operating 628 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 49 states. It also operates 258 B. Dalton Bookseller stores, primarily in regional shopping malls. The company offers titles from more than 50,000 publisher imprints, including thousands of small, independent publishers and university presses. It conducts its e-commerce business through Barnes & Noble.com (http://www.bn.com) in which it owns an approximate 38 percent interest.

Barnes & Noble also has approximately a 60 percent interest in GameStop (NYSE: GME), the nation's largest video-game and entertainment-software specialty retailer with 1,231 stores.

General financial information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company's corporate Web site: http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/financials.