Amazon was supposed to kill the bookstore.
But something just happened that nobody saw coming.
And Barnes & Noble just delivered Trump economy proof that should terrify Amazon.
The comeback nobody predicted
The experts wrote off Barnes & Noble for dead a decade ago.
The chain hemorrhaged hundreds of stores between 2010 and 2019 as Amazon's dominance crushed brick-and-mortar bookselling.
Barnes & Noble watched its store count collapse from 726 locations in 2008 to just 627 by 2019.¹
The company cycled through five different CEOs between 2013 and 2018 while bleeding red ink.
In 2018 alone, Barnes & Noble lost $125 million and fired 1,800 full-time employees.²
But Barnes & Noble just announced plans to open 60 new stores across America in 2026 after opening 67 new locations in 2025 – the most aggressive expansion in decades.³
The company confirmed it already has leases secured in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, Washington state, and Washington, D.C.⁴
This isn't some desperate last gasp from a dying chain.
Barnes & Noble is thriving in President Donald Trump's booming economy while Amazon scrambles to figure out what hit them.
One British CEO figured out what Amazon couldn't
James Daunt took over as Barnes & Noble CEO in 2019 after Elliott Management acquired the struggling chain for $683 million.⁵
Daunt wasn't some MBA hired to slash costs and liquidate inventory.
He's an actual bookseller who opened his own independent bookstore in London in 1990.⁶
Daunt had already rescued Britain's largest bookstore chain Waterstones from bankruptcy in 2011 using the same strategy he brought to Barnes & Noble.⁷
The strategy? Stop trying to compete with Amazon on price and convenience.
Instead, give individual store managers complete control over what books they stock and how they display them.
"The soul of the store needs to reflect the community in which it is," Daunt explained to NPR. "And by soul, I mean first and foremost, how the booksellers and the staff within the store deport themselves and interact with their customers but also which books they choose, how they choose to display them, how they create the store."⁸
Daunt killed the old system where publishing houses bought premium shelf space.⁹
Publishers no longer controlled what books got featured at the front of stores just because they wrote the biggest checks.
Local booksellers started curating selections based on what their actual customers wanted rather than what corporate headquarters mandated.
The results shocked the retail industry.
Barnes & Noble's return rate dropped from 30% of inventory in 2019 to just 7% by 2024.¹⁰
That saved millions in shipping costs and meant stores actually stocked books people wanted to buy.
Book sales surged compared to pre-pandemic levels while customer visits per store increased every year since the turnaround started.¹¹
Trump's economy created the perfect environment for the comeback
The Trump economy delivered exactly what Barnes & Noble needed to complete its turnaround.
Consumer confidence hit record levels as inflation cooled and real wages grew under President Trump's America First policies.
Americans rediscovered reading as a hobby during the post-pandemic recovery.
The BookTok phenomenon on TikTok drove millions of young readers into bookstores searching for viral recommendations their algorithms couldn't capture.¹²
Barnes & Noble stores became destinations again rather than warehouses competing with Amazon on shipping speed.
Customers lingered for 45 minutes or longer browsing curated selections made by knowledgeable booksellers who actually read books.¹³
The chain opened stores in prime real estate locations where previous tenants like Bed Bath & Beyond failed.¹⁴
Barnes & Noble CEO Daunt told Publishers Weekly that 2024 was a "fantastic" year for the company with healthy gains across multiple departments.¹⁵
The company is now eyeing growth to over 1,000 stores nationwide with plans to open 60-plus locations annually through at least 2027.¹⁶
Compare that to Amazon's struggling brick-and-mortar bookstores that failed so badly Barnes & Noble now occupies locations where Amazon stores closed.¹⁷
The lesson Amazon refuses to learn
Amazon dominates online retail through algorithms and logistics.
But Barnes & Noble proved something Jeff Bezos never understood.
People don't just want books delivered to their doorstep.
They want the experience of discovering unexpected treasures by browsing physical shelves curated by people who love books.
They want conversations with booksellers who read the novels they recommend.
They want comfortable chairs where they can sample books before buying them.
Amazon can't replicate that experience no matter how much money they throw at the problem.
The Trump economy's focus on American prosperity and consumer confidence created the perfect environment for Barnes & Noble's remarkable comeback.
Elliott Management is preparing a multi-billion dollar IPO for the combined Barnes & Noble and Waterstones empire in 2026.¹⁸
The company reported approximately $400 million in annual profit on $3 billion in sales as of December 2025.¹⁹
Not bad for a bookstore chain the experts declared dead just five years ago.
President Trump's policies unleashed business growth and consumer confidence that allowed American companies to thrive by focusing on what they do best.
Barnes & Noble did exactly that while Amazon's attempts at physical bookstores crashed and burned.
¹ "Barnes & Noble: number of stores 2019," Statista.
² E. Starr Associates, "The Truth Behind Barnes & Noble's Turnaround," November 19, 2024.
³ Fast Company, "Barnes & Noble opened 67 bookstores in 2025, a recent record. Now it's plotting another year of expansion," December 23, 2025.
⁴ Fox Business, "Barnes & Noble to open 60 new stores in 2026," December 23, 2025.
⁵ TheStreet, "Major bookstore chain makes surprising comeback after stores close," October 20, 2025.
⁶ Barnes & Noble Inc., "James Daunt."
⁷ E. Starr Associates, "The Truth Behind Barnes & Noble's Turnaround," November 19, 2024.
⁸ NPR, "New Barnes & Noble CEO Started His Career As An Independent Bookseller," October 29, 2019.
⁹ Modern Retail, "How Barnes & Noble is writing its own success story in the age of Amazon," September 15, 2025.
¹⁰ Modern Retail, "How Barnes & Noble is writing its own success story in the age of Amazon," September 15, 2025.
¹¹ Modern Retail, "How Barnes & Noble is writing its own success story in the age of Amazon," September 15, 2025.
¹² Barnes & Noble statement to Fast Company, February 2025.
¹³ Placer.ai data cited in Modern Retail, "How Barnes & Noble is writing its own success story in the age of Amazon," September 15, 2025.
¹⁴ Hoodline, "Barnes & Noble Defies Retail Trends with Plans to Open 60 New Stores in 2026, Including a Seventh Location in San Antonio," December 23, 2025.
¹⁵ Publishers Weekly, "Five Years In at Barnes & Noble, James Daunt Says He's Not Done Yet," January 21, 2025.
¹⁶ ICSC, "Barnes & Noble Aims for 1,000+ Stores With New Growth Strategy."
¹⁷ TheStreet, "52-year-old discount chain closes locations in multiple states," October 11, 2025.
¹⁸ FinancialContent, "The Elliott Playbook: How the Waterstones/Barnes & Noble IPO Signals a New Era for Institutional Retail Activism," December 18, 2025.
¹⁹ Ibid.