It appears that brick-and-mortar book stores are seeing resurgence and Barnes & Noble are utilising this to go on an expansion drive.
Barnes & Noble is planning to open about 60 stores in the US this year, according to a report by the Financial Times. The nation’s largest retail bookseller was acquired by British private equity group Elliott Investment Management in 2019. The all-cash deal was valued at about $683M. The deal followed Elliott’s 2018 acquisition of Waterstones, the largest retail bookseller in the UK.
In 2024, Barnes & Noble opened 57 stores in the US, the report said, while Waterstones opened 12 in the UK. Both chains are headed up by James Daunt, who also owns an independent bookstore chain in the UK.
According to the report, Daunt is focused on bringing the IT and finance systems at Barnes & Noble and Waterstones on to one platform. Barnes & Noble currently has approximately 600 US stores.
