‘The Goliath is Amazon’: after 100 years, Barnes & Noble wants to go back to its indie roots

Decoder with Nilay Patel

Vox Media Podcast Network

Technology, Business

4.3 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2023

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this installment of our Centennial Series on companies that are over 100 years old, we are talking to Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt. The last few decades have thrown some hurdles in Barnes & Noble’s way, however. Far from being the monster that inspired the plot of the movie You’ve Got Mail, it’s had to face down a new Goliath called Amazon and the general decline of big-box retail stores. After years of closures and declining revenues, Barnes & Noble was bought out by activist investors in 2019, who installed Daunt as CEO, and he’s managed to turn things around by doing two main things. First, he has decentralized operations of the stores, letting each store act like a local bookshop and giving his booksellers more control over what titles they sell and display. He immediately ended a system that allowed publishers to pay for special placement in bookstores, which he said corrupted the entire system in service of short-term profits. Second, he’s using Barnes & Noble’s scale to build a purchasing and distribution pipeline that serves as the rest of the book industry’s competitor to Amazon. We get into all of it — the culture wars, J.K. Rowling, book ban bills in states across the country, and how Barnes & Noble went from being the bully on the block to competing with Amazon. Links Hedge Fund Buys Barnes & Noble Can Britain’s Top Bookseller Save Barnes & Noble? - The New York Times How Barnes & Noble transformed its brand from corporate bully to lovable neighborhood bookstore Barnes & Noble to expand, marking a new chapter for private equity #BookTok: Is TikTok changing the publishing industry? How book lovers on TikTok are changing the publishing industry Barnes & Noble History Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23406145 Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. It was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Hadley Robinson and it was edited by Jackson Bierfeldt. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Editorial Director is Brooke Minters and our Executive Director is Eleanor Donovan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for this podcast comes from Toyota Crown.
0:04.3	The all-new Toyota Crown wants to help you stay in the now with each and every drive.
0:10.0	Find yourself immersed in the premium driver-focused interior that puts you in control.
0:15.7	Not to mention that the Toyota Crown is equipped with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 featuring lane-tracing
0:21.8	assist, full speed dynamic radar cruise control, automatic high beams, and so much more.
0:27.4	Wherever you go, the all-new Toyota Crown you make a statement.
0:31.0	The car that says so much, visit Toyota.com slash crown to learn more.
0:36.5	Toyota, let's go places.
0:42.7	Hello and welcome to Decoder. I'm Eli Patel, Editor and Chief of the Verge and Decoder is my
0:46.8	show about big ideas and other props. In this installment of our Centennial series on companies
0:53.3	that are over 100 years old, we're talking to Barnes and Noble CEO James Don't.
0:58.6	Now I'll be honest with you, I did not know Barnes and Noble was over 100 years old.
1:03.5	I have always thought of it as a 90s company. The big bad chain bookstore that
1:08.9	ransacks small town shops right alongside Walmart. But the history is way deeper than that.
1:13.5	Barnes and Noble was first established in 1917 in New York City and it remains America's largest
1:19.9	bookstore chain. The last few decades have thrown some hurdles in Barnes and Noble's way,
1:24.5	however. Far from being the monster that inspired the plot of the movie you've got male,
1:29.7	it's had to face down a new galaeath called Amazon and the general decline of big box retail stores.
1:36.1	But after years of closures and declining revenues, Barnes and Noble was bought out by activist
1:40.8	investors in 2019, who installed Don to CEO, and he's managed to turn things around by doing two
1:48.4	things. First, he's decentralized operations of the stores, he lets each store act like a
1:53.1	local bookshop, and he's given his booksellers more control over what titles they sell and display.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vox Media Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vox Media Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.