Barnes & Noble
The largest national bookstore chain in the United States, selling books, media, gifts, toys, games, and related products through stores and digital channels.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Barnes & Noble is the largest national bookstore chain in the United States and one of the country’s best-known bookselling brands. Its modern corporate identity grew from two historical businesses: a New York bookstore established as Arthur Hinds & Company in 1886, where Gilbert Clifford Noble worked and later became a partner, and the Illinois book business founded by Charles M. Barnes in 1873. In 1917, Noble joined with Charles Barnes’s son, William Barnes, and the New York operation adopted the Barnes & Noble name. The company expanded gradually during the first half of the twentieth century, developing a flagship presence in Manhattan and opening stores near universities and in other urban locations. It also operated a publishing division for periods of its history. A decisive change came in 1971, when Leonard Riggio acquired the substantially reduced business. Under Riggio, Barnes & Noble pursued a high-volume, discount-oriented superstore strategy. It became the first major United States bookseller to advertise on television and, in the mid-1970s, to discount New York Times bestsellers substantially below publishers’ list prices. The 1986 acquisition of B. Dalton Bookseller gave Barnes & Noble a nationwide mall-based network and helped provide the infrastructure for the large-format bookstore model that became its defining retail format in the 1990s. The company also acquired Bookstop and expanded its mail-order and online operations. Barnesandnoble.com launched in 1997 and became a separately traded internet business in 1999. Barnes & Noble was listed on the New York Stock Exchange from 1993 until its acquisition by Elliott Investment Management in 2019. Its stores are generally large, category-organized destinations combining books with magazines, newspapers, DVDs, music, graphic novels, stationery, gifts, toys, games, and café service. Many locations include a Starbucks café or comparable food-and-beverage operation. The company also developed Nook, an e-reader and digital-book ecosystem, as its principal response to Amazon’s Kindle and the rapid migration of book discovery and purchasing online. Its college bookstore division was separated in 2015 into Barnes & Noble Education, while the Nook-related business was reorganized separately from the core retail operation. Barnes & Noble faced sustained pressure from Amazon, digital media, changing reading habits, high store costs, and competition from independent booksellers and Books-A-Million. The company closed or reduced a number of stores and underwent leadership changes during the 2010s. After Elliott’s 2019 acquisition, James Daunt introduced a more decentralized retail approach, giving individual stores greater influence over assortment, layout, and local merchandising. The company also refurbished stores and benefited from strong demand for graphic novels, manga, and other illustrated formats during and after the COVID-19 period. Barnes & Noble’s principal business remains physical book retail, supported by e-commerce, café operations, memberships, events, publishing and self-publishing services, and digital reading products. By 2023, public descriptions of the company identified more than 660 stores across all 50 states. The brand’s current positioning emphasizes curated selection, local store character, browsing, author events, and the bookstore as a cultural and social space rather than only a transactional sales channel.
History
The company’s roots extend to Charles M. Barnes’s Illinois book business, founded in 1873, and to Arthur Hinds & Company, a New York bookstore established in 1886. Gilbert Clifford Noble joined the New York store as a clerk in 1886, became a partner in 1894, and operated it as Hinds & Noble. In 1917, Noble bought out Hinds and entered a partnership with William Barnes, adopting the Barnes & Noble name. During the early twentieth century, the business moved its principal New York location and developed a prominent Fifth Avenue presence. It opened additional stores, including locations near universities, and established a publishing division in 1931. The business remained associated with the Barnes and Noble families until 1966, when it was sold to the conglomerate Amtel. Amtel later sold the company to Leonard Riggio in 1971. Riggio rebuilt Barnes & Noble from a small operation centered on one major store. In 1974, the company became the first bookstore chain to advertise on television, and in 1975 it introduced aggressive discounting of bestsellers. During the following decade it experimented with smaller discount stores, mail-order catalogs, and publishing of inexpensive reprints. The 1986 purchase of B. Dalton, a large mall bookstore chain, transformed Barnes & Noble into a national retailer. It later acquired Bookstop and developed the large-format superstore model associated with the brand. Barnes & Noble entered public markets in 1993. It began online selling through an early videotex service in the 1980s, launched its own website in 1997, and took Barnesandnoble.com public in 1999. The company also owned GameStop for a period before distributing its shares and separating the video-game retailer in 2004. Its bookstore business became more exposed to Amazon’s online competition as digital commerce and e-books grew. The Nook e-reader and digital bookstore were introduced around 2009–2010 as a strategic response to Amazon’s Kindle. Leadership changed repeatedly during the 2010s, and the college bookstore division was spun off as Barnes & Noble Education in 2015. The company also separated Nook Media from its retail-store division. Declining traffic, store closures, labor reductions, and questions about merchandise strategy accompanied the period’s financial and operational pressure. The closure of Borders in 2011 left Barnes & Noble as the only major nationwide bookstore chain in the United States. In 2019, Elliott Investment Management acquired Barnes & Noble and took it private. James Daunt, who also led Waterstones, became chief executive. His approach emphasized store-level judgment, more selective buying, reduced dependence on uniform centralized assortment, and layouts intended to resemble strong independent bookstores. The pandemic temporarily closed hundreds of stores, but the company subsequently refurbished locations and benefited from increased demand for manga, graphic novels, and other illustrated books. The acquisition of Paper Source in 2021 broadened its stationery and gift-related offer. By 2023, Barnes & Noble operated more than 660 stores across the United States and continued to combine physical retail with online sales, membership, events, café operations, and digital reading products.
- 2021
Paper Source is acquired
[1]The acquisition expanded the company’s stationery, paper-goods, and gift offering.
- 2019
Elliott takes Barnes & Noble private
[1]Elliott Investment Management acquired the company and installed James Daunt as chief executive.
- 2015
College bookstore division is spun off
[1]The college bookstore business became the separately traded Barnes & Noble Education.
- 2010
B. Dalton liquidation is completed
[1]The last B. Dalton stores ceased operations as the company concentrated on larger Barnes & Noble stores.
- 1997
Barnesandnoble.com launches
[1]The company introduced its dedicated online bookstore website.
- 1993
Barnes & Noble goes public
[1]The company issued stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the BKS ticker.
- 1986
B. Dalton is acquired
[1]The acquisition added hundreds of mall bookstores and accelerated national expansion.
- 1975
National bestseller discounting begins
[1]Barnes & Noble became an early major United States bookseller to sell New York Times bestsellers at substantial discounts.
- 1971
Leonard Riggio acquires the company
[1]Riggio purchased the reduced business and began rebuilding it as a discount-oriented bookseller.
- 1931
Publishing division opens
[1]The company created a publishing division during its New York expansion.
Products and positioning
A large-scale but experience-oriented bookseller combining national purchasing power with curated stores, browsing space, cultural programming, cafés, and increasingly localized merchandising.
Physical retail
Barnes & Noble bookstores
The core format is a large bookstore offering books across fiction, nonfiction, children’s, academic, and specialty categories. Stores commonly add magazines, newspapers, graphic novels, gifts, toys, games, stationery, media, café service, author events, and space for browsing. Under James Daunt, stores have received more autonomy over layouts and local assortment.
E-commerce · 1997
Barnes & Noble online store
The online channel sells printed books, e-books, magazines, gifts, toys, games, stationery, and other merchandise. It developed from earlier mail-order and electronic-sales activity and became a major part of the company’s response to Amazon and changing purchasing behavior.
Digital reading · 2009
Nook
Nook is Barnes & Noble’s family of electronic readers, tablets, and associated digital-book services. It was introduced as the company’s principal device and platform response to Amazon Kindle and helped establish a digital publishing and e-book presence, although the business was later separated organizationally from the core retail operation.
Publishing services
Publishing and self-publishing services
Barnes & Noble has operated publishing-related activities and offers self-publishing services connected with its bookselling ecosystem. These services allow authors to produce and distribute titles while linking publishing support with the company’s retail and online channels.
Controversies
2018
Demos Parneros termination and litigation
Barnes & Noble dismissed chief executive Demos Parneros for alleged violations of company policy. The company later alleged sexual harassment, bullying, breach of loyalty, and interference with a potential acquisition; Parneros sued, alleging wrongful termination. The dispute was litigated publicly, but the provided material does not establish a final outcome.
Brand decisions
2021
Acquire Paper SourceM&ABackground
The company sought to broaden its assortment beyond books into stationery, paper goods, and gifts.
Action taken
Barnes & Noble acquired Paper Source.
Aftermath
The transaction expanded the brand’s lifestyle and stationery-related retail proposition.
2020
Temporarily close stores during the pandemicStrategyBackground
COVID-19 public-health restrictions disrupted physical retail operations.
Action taken
The company temporarily closed approximately 400 stores and paused magazine sales.
Aftermath
Stores were subsequently reopened and used as opportunities for refurbishment and operating changes.
2019
Accept Elliott Investment Management’s acquisitionM&ABackground
The publicly traded company faced prolonged competitive and operational pressure and received takeover interest.
Action taken
Elliott acquired Barnes & Noble and took it private.
Aftermath
James Daunt became chief executive and began a store-level turnaround and refurbishment program.
Acquisition value. Approximately $683 million (2019 acquisition)
2015
Spin off the college bookstore divisionStrategyBackground
The company sought to simplify its structure and separate college retail operations from consumer bookselling.
Action taken
Barnes & Noble Education was established as a separate public company.
Aftermath
Barnes & Noble concentrated more clearly on its consumer bookstore and online businesses.
2009
Launch the Nook platformProduct launchBackground
E-books and dedicated electronic readers were rapidly changing bookselling.
Action taken
Barnes & Noble introduced Nook devices and a digital bookstore.
Aftermath
Nook became an important strategic product line, although the company later reorganized it separately from its store business.
1986
Acquire B. Dalton BooksellerM&ABackground
Barnes & Noble needed a broader retail footprint and operating infrastructure to compete nationally.
Action taken
The company acquired the primarily mall-based B. Dalton chain.
Aftermath
The transaction accelerated national expansion and supported the later superstore strategy.
Recent events
- 2023
Barnes & Noble remains the largest national bookstore chain in the United States[1]
Other
Public descriptions of the business reported more than 660 stores across all 50 states and highlighted a retail model increasingly influenced by independent bookstores.
- 2022
Barnes & Noble pursues store refurbishment and local autonomy[3]
Other
The company used pandemic closures to refurbish stores, while James Daunt promoted more locally tailored layouts and assortments.
- 2021
Barnes & Noble acquires Paper Source[1]
M&A
Barnes & Noble expanded its lifestyle and stationery presence through the acquisition of Paper Source.
- 2020
Barnes & Noble temporarily closes most stores during the COVID-19 pandemic[1]
Other
The company temporarily closed approximately 400 of its 620 stores and temporarily stopped selling magazines as public-health restrictions disrupted retail operations.
- 2019
Barnes & Noble becomes a privately held Elliott subsidiary[1]
M&A · Leadership change
Elliott Investment Management acquired Barnes & Noble for approximately $683 million and appointed James Daunt as chief executive.
Sources6 sources
- 1Barnes & Nobleen.wikipedia.org
- 2Barnes & Noble official websitebarnesandnoble.com
- 3The New York Timesnytimes.com
- 4Barnes & Noble Continues Acquisitions Streak, Buying Stationery Brand Levenger - Publishers Weeklynews.google.com
- 5Barnes & Noble携手联想推出新款10.1英寸Nook平板电脑nb.zol.com.cn
- 6Barnes and Noble unveils NOOK GlowLight 4 - BetaNewsbetanews.com
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