Barnes & Noble ist die größte verbleibende Buchkette in den USA, aber unter James Daunt soll jede der 600 Filialen wie eine unabhängige Buchhandlung geführt werden (via theguardian.com):
“Barnes & Noble is the US’s largest remaining book chain but, under Daunt, each of the chain’s approximately 600 stores is meant to operate like an independent bookstore – unique and highly curated to fit a local community. The aim is to offer something completely different from Amazon, where about half of all print books sold in the US are bought.
“Amazon doesn’t care about books … a book is just another thing in a warehouse,” Daunt says. “Whereas bookstores are places of discovery. They’re just really nice spaces.” (…)
As at Waterstones, the turnaround is working: sales have been rising, and Barnes & Noble plans to open about 30 new branches this year – many of them reopenings of stores once shut to cut costs.”