Barnes & Noble wants to be a great bookseller again (retaildive.com)

When U.K. bookseller James Daunt took over as CEO of Barnes & Noble a year ago, after a sale that landed it in private hands, he faced the formidable challenge of rescuing the chain from troubles largely of its own making, in the shadow of Amazon’s prowess in the segment.

At the time of the sale, annual revenue at Barnes & Noble hadn’t grown for seven years, declining, in fact, by some $700 million since 2015. As Amazon powered on as a top bookseller, Barnes & Noble cycled through a series of CEOs and strategies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has interfered with much of whatever Daunt’s plan may have been. A year ago, new owner Elliott Advisors had said store closures weren’t likely. But in June, the company closed an Upper East Side location in New York City, and laid off an unspecified number of employees in its corporate office.

In a recent interview, Daunt, a bookseller in his own right (he is the founder of Daunt Books, a small independent London chain, and managing director of Waterstones, another popular U.K. bookstore chain owned by Elliott) said that the disease outbreak has also provided some opportunity. Temporary closures have allowed the company to revamp stores: Daunt envisions Barnes & Noble as a chain of smaller locations — one reason for the New York closure is that it was too large, and the company says it’s “actively looking” for a smaller store in that neighborhood.
more at source: https://www.retaildive.com/news/barnes-noble-wants-to-be-a-great-bookseller-again/583334/

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