In the wake of the pandemic, Barnes & Noble faced enormous obstacles. There were no book signings or readings in most stores for over two years. There is still a long way to go before cafes take off.
Omicron made its debut in December, just in time for the holiday shopping rush. There is still a lack of tourists and office workers at several of the chain’s downtown metropolitan locations.
Overall sales at Barnes & Noble shops rose 3% in 2019 from their pre-pandemic performance. The company’s CEO, James Daunt, explained that the company’s growth came the old-fashioned way: A 14 percent increase in book sales.
This year has been wonderful for Mr. Daunt, who had no idea what he was getting himself into.
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My Nemesis is Actually an Ally.
Even Tom Hanks was a believable villain for years because of the fierce opposition Barnes & Noble faced from independent bookshops.
‘You’ve Got Mail’, a 1998 film, captures the feeling. When Meg Ryan, a beloved independent bookseller in New York City, was bankrupted by a huge bookstore chain owner played by Mr. Hanks in the film, co-written and directed by Nora Ephron, the film’s plot focuses around her. Despite the fact that they were both attractive, they fell in love.
The American Booksellers Association, which represents independent bookstores, sued Barnes & Noble in the 1990s for antitrust violations. The association had previously sued many publishers for fraudulently claiming that huge chains were being charged lower costs.
When Oren J. Teicher, a former director of the American Booksellers Association, spoke, “the competition was pretty ugly.” For many, Barnes & Noble was just the enemy, but a symbol of all that was wrong with selling corporate books. –
A Battery Store isn’t a Book Store.
The board of directors of the corporation sacked its CEO for the fourth time in five years in 2018. The country’s largest bookstore chain was considered to be on the verge of bankruptcy.
Mr. Daunt was named CEO of the chain after Elliott Advisors, a hedge fund, purchased it for $638 million the following summer.
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Last Words
In order to address a similar issue at Waterstones (the largest bookshop chain in the United Kingdom), Mr. Daunt, a highly respected bookseller who launched his first Daunt Books store in London in 1990, was brought on board.
After taking over in 2011, the company had been on the verge of bankruptcy for several years. Retail chains, according to him, should operate less like chains and more freely, with the same latitude to adjust their offers to local tastes as independent retailers do. In the end, it worked, and Waterstones returned to profitability.
