Is Barnes & Noble Going Out of Business?
A look at how the nation’s largest bookstore chain is performing
Over the past decade, the book-selling industry has seen a huge shift in how readers are buying books. With the rise of Amazon, many readers have shifted to e-books and/or buying print copies online instead of going to a physical store such as Barnes & Noble, the last national bookstore chain left in the United States after Borders closed in 2011.
According to Statista, about 13% of books sold in the United States in June 2023 were e-books. Considering Amazon controls about 70% of the e-book market, Barnes & Noble is losing 10% of its potential customers due to e-books alone. Amazon also controls about 50% of the print book sales market, according to this article written by Benjamin Evans.
What is the effect of all this on Barnes & Noble? As shown in the graph below, the company has seen a sales decline from about $5.4 million in 2012 to $3.7 million in 2019, over a 30% decrease in revenue. As a side note, 2019 was the company’s last year as a publicly traded entity for which revenue figures were available.
Despite the decrease in sales, Barnes & Noble has maintained a relatively consistent number of stores. Below are the total number of B&N stores over time.
As of 2024, the book-selling chain has 604 stores, so the number of stores is continuing to decrease, but the losses have notably flatlined. Given the rise of e-commerce as a whole since 2005, it’s impressive that Barnes & Noble has managed to keep so many of its stores open, even if they’re making less money per store.
Over a similar period of time, here’s what the total number of bookstores in the United States looks like:
While Barnes and Noble has seen an 8% decrease in stores since 2005, the United States as a whole has seen a 45% decrease in bookstores. This shows that Barnes & Noble is performing remarkably well in an industry that has suffered tremendously over the past few decades.
How is Barnes & Noble Surviving?
The reason Barnes & Noble is still surviving has to do with its initial response to e-commerce rivals like Amazon back in the late 2000s and early 2010s. While Borders bookstores were investing in old technology like CDs and DVDs, Barnes & Noble invested in new technology to compete with Amazon. The first Nook e-reader was released in late 2009, and that investment is largely the reason Barnes & Noble still exists today.
The Nook allowed Barnes & Noble to compete in the digital landscape while also dominating the print sales industry. Even though sales have pulled back in both categories in recent years, the fact is this:
The Nook allowed Barnes & Noble to fend off the threat from Amazon by creating an e-commerce platform of its own.
In addition to the Nook, Barnes & Noble expanded their online sales business. Borders did not do this. Borders outsourced their online sales to Amazon. Because Barnes & Noble created their own website to sell books, they were able to defend against Amazon’s onslaught on a second front.
The Future
The past decade has taken a toll on Barnes & Noble. The company has lost revenue and decreased its number of stores. They have been tested to the limit by Amazon, which is stealing a large percentage of their business.
But Barnes & Noble has been resilient. They have adapted to the biggest technological changes the world has ever seen and are still a huge force in the bookselling industry. Just recently, the bookselling chain announced the acquisition of seven bookstores owned by Tattered Cover in the Denver area for almost $2 million, which is a positive development for a company that has been scaling back in recent years.
But overall, the survival of Barnes & Noble depends on the dedicated readers in their stores. Barnes & Noble pays a great service to its readers who spend time in their bookstores, with a library of thousands of new books as well as the comfort of a Starbucks café in most locations.
The question is whether we are willing to return the favor. Ultimately, Barnes & Noble’s survival comes down to this:
Are we willing to buy a book in the physical store to support literature’s biggest advocate — the bookstore — or will we tack the book onto our next Amazon order for free shipping?
I hope you found this article helpful and learned a few things along the way. Thank you to Barnes & Noble for their commitment to readers through the years.
