Barnes and Noble opened nearly 60 stores around the country in 2024 and has plans to open 60 more in 2025. PBS reports that Barnes and Noble began in 1873 and its trade name and flagship Manhattan store were acquired by Leonard Riggio in 1971. Riggio proceeded to grow the company into the nation’s largest bookseller.
A large selection and discounts helped grow Barnes and Noble while driving smaller bookstores out of business. Then Amazon arrived with steeper discounts and nearly killed Barnes and Noble.
After James Daunt saved Britain’s largest chain of bookstores Waterstone’s from potential bankruptcy, Daunt was brought into Barnes and Noble to help the bookseller. The store’s once rigid display and catalog sections at every store changed to allow more of an independent bookstore feeling with a lot more flexibility being afforded to in-store staff. That approach appears to be working for Barnes and Noble.
