Barnes & Noble recently announced it will open 60 new stores in 2025. BookTok, a large TikTok category, can be thanked for bringing the store back from the dead.
Barnes & Noble originated in 1873. Charles M. Barnes began his company by selling books out of his home in Wheaton, Illinois. In 1917, Barnes’ son William joined forces with G. Clifford Noble, leading to Barnes & Noble becoming a true book store.
The first Barnes & Noble “opened on Fifth Avenue at 18th Street in New York City,” according to its website. The store served millions of customers as it grew in popularity. By the 1990s, there were over 500 stores open across the country.
However, the popularity did not last. The big chain bookstore faced a multitude of challenges through the 2010s that nearly sent the company underground.
Amazon — which began as an online bookseller in 1995 — threatened the livelihoods of both independent bookstores and chain stores like Barnes & Noble. The store barely scraped through the next few decades, closing over 150 stores.
In 2019, James Daunt became the new CEO. He previously revived Waterstones, a U.K. bookseller.
Daunt’s experience, along with pandemic shutdowns, allowed Barnes & Noble to revamp its stores completely. In 2021, the U.S. set a new record for book sales in the country.
Americans’ sudden shift in public reading habits is often chalked up to one trend that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic: BookTok.
BookTok is a online group of dedicated readers on TikTok who share and review their favorite books, genres and authors. The #BookTok tag on TikTok has over 45.9 million posts.
“Since the rise of BookTok during the pandemic, bookstores have seen a significant surge in popularity, especially among young people,” Barnes & Noble said to Fast Company. “Our stores have become popular social spots, offering an experience that online shopping simply can’t match.”
Barnes & Noble simply cannot ignore BookTok’s demands. Shannon DeVito, head of books, told CNN BookTok trends often dictate what stores keep in stock.
“A lot of stores took advantage of the heyday of BookTok and created tables and specific displays of varying sizes because they had that flexibility, which is another beautiful thing about the stores really determining their own destiny,” DeVito said.
Physical books are significantly more popular than digital copies, despite online shopping becoming increasingly common. This is part of what drives people to visit brick-and-mortar stores.
Another reason physical stores are visited is the togetherness factor. Book signings, story times and book release events all give a sense of belonging. For some, bookstores such as Barnes & Noble may even act as their “third space.”
BookTok is not the only TikTok sphere which has helped to drive sales in a specific market. Groups such as BeautyTok, CleanTok and FashionTok are just a few others which have brought business to independent sellers and big chain stores.
“In 2024, Barnes & Noble opened more new bookstores in a single year than it had in the whole decade from 2009 to 2019,” the company said to Fast Company. Last year, the company set its record with 57 new stores. This year, Barnes & Noble plans toopen 60 more across 17 states.
