Last year, Barnes & Noble opened nearly 60 stores around the country and plans for 60 more to open in 2025.

It's the latest twist in a long-running saga for a company that's been a bellwether for the book business.

Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown continues our ongoing reporting on the book industry, part of our arts and culture series, Canvas.

It's recognizably Barnes & Noble bookers. There are lots and lots of books piled high,

but it looks very different. A pre-opening walk through a Barnes and Noble bookstore,

a maze of small rooms and pathways, with company CEO James Dant. When you're very full, as this store often will be, it's creating space for people to

drop into.

This store on Manhattan's Upper East Side is just a year old.

It's part of a large nationwide chain, but crucially for Dant has its own look and

feel.

The key insight that I have is that it is about the book selling team, and it's about how you take all of this huge number of books

and arrange them and display them in a manner which really engages with your local community.

The insight that gives me in terms of running lots of bookstores

is leave it to the teams in each store. The vast majority gives me in terms of running lots of bookstores is leave it to

the teams in each store. The vast majority of them will do it exceptionally well, and your stores

will become better and busier and the business will thrive. Barnes and Noble's beginnings can be traced

to 1873, but it was in 1971 that Leonard Riggio acquired its trade name and flagship Manhattan store

and grew the company into the nation's largest bookseller, offering steep discounts and a huge selection.

Changing the landscape for how and where Americans bought books, eventually with more than 700 superstores, all with the same titles

and design.

One, two, three, four.

We don't want this super store.

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