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Prognosticators have gleefully foretold the death of the store for decades now, and it still hasn\u2019t come true. In fact, in the case of Barnes & Noble<\/strong>, the chain\u2019s stores have given it new lease on life.<\/p>\n Six<\/strong> years ago, Barnes & Noble was a \u201ccompany on the brink,\u201d recounted Shannon DeVito, Senior Director for Books at Barnes & Noble in a session at the NRF Big Show. It\u2019s a familiar tale \u2014 the rise of online shopping and the new behaviors prompted by that shift presented an existential threat to the business. But while many retailers in similar positions have turned to enhanced ecommerce or influencers or private equity to prompt a turnaround, Barnes & Noble looked in a different direction \u2014 its stores \u2014 and diagnosed a key problem: \u201cWe were trying to be a traditional retailer instead of a bookstore, and there\u2019s a very big difference<\/strong>,\u201d DeVito said. So, Barnes & Noble rewrote its playbook.<\/p>\n The idea was to draw inspiration from the indie bookseller model, giving \u201ceach store the breathing room to do their own thing, so they are able to resonate more effectively with the communities where they are,\u201d shared CEO James Daunt (who also architected the turnaround of UK bookseller Waterstones<\/strong>) at the NRF Big Show back in 2024. Two years on and that seed of an idea has grown into a novel-sized success story \u2014 after bottoming out at around 600<\/strong> stores, the company opened 60<\/strong> new stores in 2025 and plans to repeat that feat in 2026.<\/p>\n The genius of this particular turnaround lies in Daunt\u2019s understanding of the role that stores play in today\u2019s world and, more importantly, the fact that Barnes & Noble\u2019s stores could still fill a distinct need. \u201cIn the old days [the draw was] price, variety or convenience, but those dimensions don\u2019t work anymore to get people to visit stores<\/strong>,\u201d said Kevin Kelley, Co-founder of the design firm Shook Kelley, who moderated the session with DeVito. \u201cThink about the extreme things customers do \u2014 they\u2019ll go to Coachella, they\u2019ll wait hours and endure Porta-Johns and heat and very expensive food just to be a part of an event like that. It\u2019s not about the music, which has really low fidelity, it\u2019s about the collective group experience.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t form attachments to convenience; they like convenience and they love frictionless environments on some level, but those things are really commoditized,\u201d he added. \u201cWhat people form attachments to is meaning, moments and memories<\/strong>, and I think all of us would agree that bookstores are a public place that provides that.\u201d<\/p>\n DeVito shared how Barnes & Noble has tapped into that ethos through its new approach to store design \u2014 which has included ditching planograms<\/strong> altogether and letting stores take over their own social marketing<\/strong> \u2014 because, as she said, \u201cPeople absolutely judge books by their cover and stores by how they look.\u201d<\/p>\n Every single store in Barnes & Noble\u2019s 700+<\/strong>-strong fleet now looks different, from the layout to the displays, which does make it difficult to \u201cfigure out what to ship where, and what\u2019s working and what isn\u2019t and why,\u201d but is still well worth it, said DeVito. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI started as a bookseller in Cleveland, and I was essentially told at that time, 13<\/strong> years ago, to turn my brain off when I came to work \u2014 we had planograms for everything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Now, the planograms are no more. Instead, Barnes & Noble corporate focuses on training its employees on the \u201ctenets of being a good bookseller and curation.\u201d<\/strong> And with hundreds of thousands of titles to choose from, the possibilities for localized curation are nearly limitless.\u00a0<\/p>\n The key to making this work has been empowering local employees to make decisions without too much oversight \u2014 a tough pill to swallow for most corporate leadership teams. But what this freedom allows for is a hyper-localized national chain<\/strong>. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re capitalizing on the creativity that our booksellers have and what they\u2019re good at \u2014 they\u2019re really good at recommending books,\u201d said DeVito.<\/p>\n And they are empowered to make those recommendations not just in conversations with customers and book placements throughout the store, but also through social media (each store now has its own handle on all the major platforms), through events and with customized, often hand-crafted, displays. Recent examples included a range of stylized volcano shelf treatments for Michael Crichton and James Patterson\u2019s book Eruption<\/em> and a melted-butter table display crafted from latex for Asako Yuzuki\u2019s novel Butter.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe localization has become so important for us \u2014 really doubling down on local authors or making sure that we\u2019re talking about [what\u2019s] in the news, taking those moments and creating a local aspect to them that makes the bookstore feel like a community. And it\u2019s all store-led,\u201d said DeVito.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels different to buy a book from a bookseller \u2014 to walk around the store and meet someone for coffee and then take that book home with you \u2014 than to have a book delivered in a package,\u201d she added. \u201cReading that book is going to feel just a little bit different.\u201d<\/p>\n That feeling is exactly what Barnes & Noble is going for, although it\u2019s not only about books. While the company no longer operates as large a music department as it did in its original heyday, DeVito said music is still big business for the chain, particularly vinyl records<\/strong>. That renewed passion for an outdated media format hints at the larger desire driving store shoppers today: \u201cPeople want that tactile experience,\u201d DeVito explained. \u201cThey want to collect and they want that ownership of something on their shelves.\u201d<\/p>\n A range of diverse in-store events also helps make the store feel like a gathering place for customers. Events can include midnight release parties, book signings, virtual events, \u201cmidday mysteries,\u201d and a range of activities for kids including story times, visits from costume characters like Clifford, scavenger hunts and reading giveaways.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re happy for people to spend time in our stores,\u201d said DeVito. \u201cA lot of this is about creating a community space, that \u2018third space\u2019 that feels really special and intentional.<\/strong> A bookstore is inherently a community hub, so we have that going for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Localized marketing across store signage (think chalkboard easels) and social media also helps drive home the personal connection to each store.<\/p>\n \u201cThe marketing is ground-level, we\u2019re not pushing cookie-cutter,\u201d DeVito added. \u201cWe want it to feel really genuine and authentic and organic, because it is. That\u2019s why you come to a bookstore; that\u2019s what people are yearning for, to feel like they\u2019re part of an experience, to feel like they\u2019re part of something that\u2019s in the world <\/strong>and they\u2019re connecting with like-minded people. That\u2019s what bookstores are.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nUnderstanding the Role Stores Play for Consumers Today<\/strong>
Designing for Local Interest<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Trusting the Booksellers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Establishing Barnes & Noble as a Community Hub<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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