Saving Barnes and Noble | Undaunted | 3

Business Movers

Wondery

History, Business, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic forces the closure of 400 Barnes & Noble locations. James Daunt uses the downtime to accelerate the redesign of stores, and to usher in radical changes to Barnes & Noble’s business model.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Want to get more from business movers?
0:02.2	Subscribe to Wondry Plus for early access to new episodes,
0:05.7	ad-free listening, and exclusive content you can't find anywhere else.
0:09.6	Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:14.3	Wonderly.
0:15.0	The Wondry! It's late March 2020 in the parking lot of a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Indianapolis, Indiana.
0:35.2	A 22-year-old man named Isaac gets out of his car and immediately
0:38.6	fishes a face mask out of his pocket. He's here to start his latest shift as a sales associate
0:43.9	at Barnes & Noble, but he knows today will be different. Barnes & Noble has just announced that
0:48.8	the majority of its stores are shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Isaac has no idea what that means for his job.
0:57.3	Entering the building, Isaac notices his manager waiting for him inside.
1:01.5	And even from behind his own face mask, the manager looks tired.
1:05.1	Morning, Isaac.
1:06.3	Hey, look, I'm just going to cut to the chase, so forgive me if I sound curt, but I have to let you go immediately.
1:12.8	What? Yeah, I'm sorry. But I show up on time, no one knows how long this is all going to last. They can't just start firing people.
1:30.2	Yeah, they're saying stores might have to close indefinitely, and we can't afford to pay sales associates when we don't have any sales going on in the building.
1:37.6	Look, I'm really sorry. Isaac feels his eyes welling up with tears. This is embarrassing, but I'm begging you. I can't afford to lose
1:45.8	this job. I don't know what I'm going to do. I just got my own place. My mom isn't doing well.
1:50.4	I don't know what it will happen if she catches the virus. I'll take a pay cut. I'll come in and
1:55.0	clean. Anything. You have to help me. Isaac, I'm really sorry. There's nothing I can do. For the record, you were always
2:02.2	one of the best on our team. Well, if I really am one of the best, there's got to be something you
2:07.2	can do for me. Isaac's manager falls silent for a moment. Your mom's sick? Yeah. All right,
	...

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