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A year ago, John Radford had little control over book selection at the Barnes & Noble store he runs in Idaho Falls, Idaho. The leaders of New York have decided which titles to wear. The retailer’s more than 600 stores were to follow this plan.
Mr Radford must have stocked dozens of James Patterson and John Grisham books, even though there was not much local demand. Often, he had to return about half of the inventory after a few months.
These days, he’s the one kicking things.
Led by CEO James Daunt, Barnes & Noble Inc. is abandoning the strategy that made it a bookstore giant two decades ago: uniformity designed to create economies of scale and simplify the shopping experience. Instead, the company allows store managers to manage their shelves according to local tastes.
In recent months, Mr. Daunt has slashed the ranks of once-powerful employees who oversaw large store groups and fired nearly half of New York-based book buyers, powerful taste makers who decided which titles would be best for them. stores should offer. In the process, he broke decades-long relationships with publishers who paid to have their books placed in stores.
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