Barnes & Noble Has Become an Antidote to Amazon
If someone said ten years ago that Barnes & Noble, the U.S. book seller, would experience a resurgence in the mid-2020s, few would believe the prediction. And yet, Barnes & Noble is doing just that by opening dozens of stores a year, defying consensus expectations of a there being a retail desert drained of water by Amazon.
Thanks to a multi-year expansion, the number of Barnes & Noble stores stands at approximately 700, close to the peak number seen in the late 2000s. As seen with the following new store openings trajectory, management is quite bullish about business prospects.
2023: 30 new stores
2024: 61 new stores
2025: 67 new stores
2026 (expected): 60 new stores
It’s a remarkable turn of events for a retailer that closed 20% of its stores last decade. The growth isn’t a result of Barnes & Noble reverting to its former strategy. Instead, we are seeing a retailer that has undergone significant change.
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