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BoSacks Speaks Out: This is great news for print publishers. B&N has a terrific well curated newsstand for magazines. 54 new newsstands may not sound like much, but it will be a big national help in magazine sales.
On another B&N note: Leonard Riggio, the visionary founder and former chairman of Barnes & Noble, has passed away at the age of 83. His representative confirmed to PEOPLE that Riggio died on August 27 in New York, surrounded by his loving family, after battling Alzheimer’s disease.
Riggio’s journey with Barnes & Noble began in 1971 when he acquired the trade name and the flagship store in Manhattan. Reflecting on his impact, Riggio once told Publisher’s Weekly, “We shaped New York bookselling as much as New York shaped us.” Over nearly five decades, he expanded the bookstore chain nationally, pioneering the concept of superstores and transforming them into social hubs where people could gather and linger, as noted by the New York Times. Riggio stepped down from his role as chairman in 2019.
Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch just announced that he is stepping down after three years. When asked if he's looking for a new job, he was like, 'Nah, just browsing.'
Jimmy Fallon
Dateline Charlottesville, VA
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Barnes & Noble is opening 58 stores in 2024: Here’s a full list of cities that will get new locations
The national bookseller is continuing its comeback this year, with the most openings in a single year since at least 2009.
BY Christopher Zara
https://www.fastcompany.com/
https://bit.ly/4cM5kzx
In a news environment filled with gloomy stories about the decline of brick-and-mortar retail, we’ll take the wins where we can get them.
Barnes & Noble is continuing its hot streak this year, having already opened an impressive 32 stores across more than 20 states since January, the bookseller told Fast Company on Friday.
For context, that’s more than the 30 stores it had planned to open in all of 2023.
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In total, the company said it was on track to open 58 new locations before 2025—more stores than it’s opened in a single year since at least 2009.
Back then, Barnes & Noble was facing what looked like existential threats from Amazon and the broader shift to online commerce, not to mention a decline in print media that had many industry insiders questioning the future viability of books.
Amazon’s first Kindle was released in 2007 while Barnes & Noble followed up with its Nook e-reader two years later. At one point, it was dedicating a good chunk of precious shelf space to the sterile-looking devices.
But physical books and bookstores have both proven surprisingly durable in the era of social media, aided by passionate online communities, Facebook-driven book clubs, and TikTok’s ever-popular #booktok hashtag.
Independent stores are also experiencing a resurgence, with the American Booksellers Association telling the Associated Press that its 2023 membership has nearly doubled from 2016.
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Barnes & Noble’s ongoing growth is especially notable in a year when legacy retail brands from Big Lots to Rite Aid are closing significant numbers of locations and shrinking their physical footprints. Some companies, such as the Sam Ash chain of music stores, are folding altogether.
As we reported last year, Barnes & Noble’s brand transformation—from ’90s-era corporate superstore to friendly neighborhood bookseller fighting the good fight against Amazon’s algorithmic dominance—has been a big part of its recent success.
Its newer stores tend to be smaller and better designed than the massive and unwieldy spaces it was known for 15 years ago.
Having a nice pile of new releases at the ready for TikTok influencers probably doesn’t hurt.
Below is a full list of cities where Barnes & Noble has opened or plans to open new locations this year.
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Stores opened in 2024 so far
January
Estero, FL
Ledgewood, NJ
Redding, CA
Visalia, CA
Kalispell, MT
February
Jonesboro, AR
Panama City Beach, FL
American Fork, UT
March
Columbia, SC
Victor, NY
Gainesville, FL
Meriden, CT
April
Concord Mills, NC
New Orleans, LA
May
Dubuque, IA
Dawsonville, GA
Mooresville, NC
South Portland, ME
Sandy Commons, Southtown, UT
Clark & Diversey, IL
June
Oswego, IL
Lehigh Valley, PA
Selma, TX
Northbrook, IL
Rochester Hills, MI
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July
Wesleyan Plaza, TX
Flowood, MS
Conroe, TX
Lake Orion, MI
Denham Springs, LA
August
Santa Fe, NM
Fayette, KY
Stores on track to open before 2025
Destiny, NY
Santa Monica, CA
Doylestown, PA
Las Vegas, NV
Cool Springs Galleria, TN
Rehoboth Beach, DE
Alamo Ranch, TX
Sawgrass, FL
Allen, TX
Huntington, NY
Walden Galleria, NY
Tucson, AZ
St Louis Galleria, MO
Murray, UT
Wicker Park, IL
Georgetown, DC
Schereville, IN
Wichita, KS
Manassas, VA
Waterford Lakes, FL
Brentwood, CA
Park City, UT
Seabrook, NH
Mt Kisco, NY
Monmouth Sq, NJ
Issaquah, WA
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After all, as the Japanese proverb goes:
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"Heard on the Web" Media Intelligence:
Courtesy of The Precision Media Group.
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