Barnes & Noble was saved by the indie bookstore model
Even large retailers must embrace the allure of going indie
Finding a local coffee shop and/or bookstore wherever I travel is one of my favorite things. Barnes & Noble has always been an easy go-to since I know what to expect. The chain offers more than just new books; it typically has a Starbucks Cafe and a layout that encourages exploring its spaced-out shelves for the next great read. Plus, who doesn’t love the smell of books?!
Word has been circulating that the retail bookstore is making quite a comeback, with plans to open between 30-60 new locations in 2024 alone. This is excellent news, not only for Barnes & Noble but for all lovers of books and brick-and-mortar stores.
But weren’t bookstores going out of business? What changed?
Making reading cool again
Many factors have affected physical shopping’s resurgence—a major one being the post-COVID nostalgia for enjoying public spaces again. That and commercial lease prices dropping in places to attract businesses back to malls and open-air shopping centers helped secure an economic growth spurt. But when it comes to book buying, something defies the norm. It’s a little thing called trends.
Social media’s recent boom has brought with it a new era of content creators and a “show-off” culture. People want to flaunt the latest and greatest, or at least give off the perception they can. It’s prevalent in many markets, particularly in trading card games, where retail shelves were emptied by fans and scalpers alike. I blame Logan Paul for that one.
Bookstagram, BookTube, and BookTok are examples of trendy content creation that hypes books to virality, smashing chart sales and flooding people’s feeds. Those heavily involved have started to reflect and question if they ever liked the books they were buying in the first place. I temporarily fell victim to this culture, purchasing exclusive editions of books I had no interest in reading to be among the first to post a picture or video of it in my collection. After reading some of these books, I regret fueling the fire.
The silver lining is that the power is no longer in the hands of the gatekeepers. Traditional publishing doesn’t have the only say in what tops the charts. Rabid fans or even clout-chasers can prop up their favorite (or best-looking) books online, and potential readers appear to respond. Whether BookTok is doing more harm than good remains to be seen.
The rise of indie
Over 2,000 independent bookselling companies are operating around 2,500 bookstores in the U.S. Despite signs that reading for pleasure is declining, book sales and places to buy them are on the rise. How can that be?!
Aside from overly optimistic folks buying books only to place them on their shelves and never touch them again, there are a few explanations:
Why not open a bookstore? Fans of something tend to want to dedicate themselves to it. The super readers seeking to be surrounded by books all day will realize they can do that if they quit their desk jobs and commit. Running a bookstore isn’t easy, but the opportunity awaits those willing to pounce. The accessibility of these types of ventures has only become easier over the last decade.
It’s more than a bookstore, man. It’s a vibe. Writers, readers, and normies love a cozy nook to lose themselves in for a few hours. Buying local is great for the community. The browsing traffic alone enables increased book sales and is a solid reason for a store to exist.
A book cafe is the best of both worlds. Coffee and books? Now we’re grindin’ and bindin’ (oof, sorry). If there were candles that smelled like coffee and books, I’d buy them in a heartbeat. Anyway, I think you know why this one is a winner.
On the flip side, finding the time is difficult. For most working adults, setting aside the time to read requires a strong will and desire. After scrolling for an hour on IG, the patience to stare at other imaginary possibilities becomes strained. Jokes aside, where does the time go?
So what happened with B&N?
In 2019, Barnes & Noble was acquired by investment firm Elliott Investment Management and turned into a privately held company. James Daunt came aboard as CEO and immediately steered the ship in what would become the financially correct direction. But who is James Daunt, and how did he reach the position of overseeing 900 bookstores worldwide?
James is certainly a book guy. In 1990, he opened an independent bookstore, Daunt Books, in London. He expanded to nine locations, with a unique theme of books categorized by country. After some time, he took over for Waterstones, the largest book chain in the UK. In just 5 years, James turned it profitable and became “the man who saved Waterstones.”
This was his strategy:
Decentralize book-buying decisions to individual store managers
Prioritize books over non-book products
Enhance the in-store experience
My takeaway is that these three steps scream “indie bookstore.” Curating bookshelves to meet your local customers sounds pretty straightforward, but for the chain, it was apparently a foreign idea before James came along.
But that’s not all. There’s another element not often discussed: the B&N membership. The store offers a free tier called Rewards and a Premium subscription with specific benefits for its members. It recently increased from the $25 to $40 in 2023.
James predicted that 75% of its 5.5 million paying members would upgrade to the new price. That’s roughly $165 million a year before book sales, coffee purchases, and merch have been factored in. One can see how that might help with those profitability metrics. Maybe Substack is on to something…
Still, nothing beats a good indie bookstore. Finding one in your local area is bound to give you the warm and fuzzies. I plan to visit more spots in New Mexico in the coming months since I just moved here.
Share your thoughts on the indie model and any reasons I didn’t cover for why it might be successful in the comments. If you enjoyed this, let me know by hitting the Like and Restack buttons to help support my independent press. Who knows? Maybe someday I’ll have a physical location… I mean, why not, right?!
I was working at BN when the changeover happened and I can say that before that, BN was following every retail playbook on what to do when you'll probably close up and go bankrupt. Daunt came along and said, NO, we're not doing THAT (one of BNs biggest mistakes was having employees become shills for memberships. And they were selling absolute CRAP that wasn't book related at all).
When The Bug from Hell had me loose my job there in 2020, part of me was sorry to go because while I was burnt out on the retail part, I miss the books. I miss talking about books, I miss shelving new books.
The biggest bookseller in my home town has been operating like this for a long time and has made themselves a major influence on sales and distribution in this area. This in spite of the presence of the largest bookstore chain in Canada elsewhere....