Saving Barnes and Noble | Industry Expert Jane Friedman Discusses The Resurgence Of Barnes & Noble And The Future Of Bookselling | 4
Business Movers
Wondery
4.8 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 30 January 2025
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Publishing industry expert Jane Friedman discusses James Daunt’s transformation of Barnes & Noble, and the threats and opportunities the future holds for traditional booksellers.
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Transcript
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| 0:14.2 | OneRoury. |
| 0:14.8 | Music It's June 2001 at the Waterstones flagship store on Piccadilly in the center of London. |
| 0:34.7 | 47-year-old Waterstone CEO James Dawn kneels to inspect a new shelving unit |
| 0:39.6 | being installed during a store remod. James has just taken over at the helm of Waterstones |
| 0:44.9 | and has been tasked with turning the struggling bookstore chain around. It's a monumental job |
| 0:49.4 | with a monumental opponent, the online giant Amazon. But today, James is focused on smaller details. |
| 0:56.3 | He's weighing in on the store's new layout and design and has brought along a friend to |
| 1:00.4 | provide a second pair of eyes, Italian retail architect Miguel Sal. He has long gray hair and a thick |
| 1:06.8 | white beard and eyes that dance with amusement. Miguel squints at James as he adjusts a shelf. |
| 1:13.6 | No, four degrees, James. Definitely. Four degrees. The angle of the lowest shelf on the unit might seem |
| 1:19.7 | like a minor issue for a CEO to consider, but this is the flagship store, and James wants |
| 1:24.9 | everything to be just right. Four degrees. You think so. It catches the light |
| 1:29.0 | much better. Two degrees, three degrees, people aren't going to notice the books down there. But at four, |
| 1:34.0 | I don't know. I think it should be three. No, no, no. Three, why? Every degree we tilt these books, |
| 1:39.5 | the more it damages the spines. The spines? This isn't a library. It's a bookstore. Yes, and we can't go about |
| 1:46.3 | damaging our goods. The products go in and out, in and out. No, some tidal stay on the shelves |
| 1:52.0 | longer you might think. Well, at three degrees, yes, because no one can see them. James smiles |
| 1:57.9 | because he loves how passionate his friend can be. |
... |
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