Bookstores might seem old school in the AI era, but Barnes & Noble has staged a fairy-tale comeback under CEO James Daunt.
After shrinking to under 600 locations in 2023, the storied American bookstore chain opened 57 locations in 2024 — more than in the entire decade between 2009 and 2019.
It expanded by more than 60 stores last year, and it’s targeting another 60 this year, it said in a news release this week.
Barnes & Noble was taken private in August 2019 when Elliott Management acquired it for close to $700 million, including debt. The hedge fund tasked Daunt — who led the turnaround of British bookstore chain Waterstones, which Elliott…
