Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Barnes & Noble plans to open 60 new bookshops in the US this year. According to CEO James Daunt, sales are up by the “mid-single digits” and a joint flotation in London and New York is on the cards.
Sales had been falling for seven straight years to 2019 when a billionaire hedge fund manager bought the chain.
The internet nearly killed it and then came to the rescue. Amazon had eaten market share and forced the chain to make ill-fated forays into toys, games and kindles.
But the arrival post-pandemic of BookTok – TikTok’s avid young and not-so-young reading community – has helped the store reach new audiences.
Barnes & Noble is now the gathering place for a more erudite type of influencer.
