Editorial written by Chicago Tribune Editorial Board
As winter settles in and daylight fades early, Americans long have turned to books for comfort, curiosity, and company. The good news this holiday season is that the bookstores which make that habit possible are rebounding, too.
In the late 1990s, many book lovers often looked with scorn upon the likes of Barnes & Noble and the now-defunct Borders, favoring the dusty shelves of their preferred independent book haunt.
Fast-forward to now, and bookstores of any kind have been harder to come by in many communities. The old bookstore wars are over. In an age of Amazon dominance, readers have learned to root for anyone selling physical books, and that enthusiasm appears to be paying off.
Barnes & Noble is leading the charge, opening nearly 70 new stores this year with plans to add another 60 in the new year.
“2025 has been a fantastic year for us,” Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt told CNBC on Dec. 15. To be sure, not all Barnes & Noble locations are built alike, with some maintaining a smaller footprint wedged into strip malls while others maintain the standalone, bulky presence many identify with the brand. Examples of both versions can be found peppered through Chicago and its suburbs.
Discussing what may be behind this positive news, Daunt said the naysayers might tell you books do really well during a recession. He had a more hopeful perspective, crediting strong releases from the publishing world and a growing thirst for book supply among the public. While COVID was awful in so many ways, it appears pandemic lockdowns had the effect of igniting a love of reading in lots more folks — making it possible for the bookstore ecosystem to grow.
“Once you get into the habit of reading books — and that clearly happened during the pandemic — you retain that habit,” Daunt said. He also noted that tariffs, which have hindered so many other industries, have had “virtually no impact” on books.
These good habits aren’t just bolstering big brands like Barnes & Noble, they’re leading to a resurgence of independent booksellers, too. The American Booksellers Association reported that more than 420 new bookstores opened this year, part of a rebirth of bookshops after the initial Amazon/big-box shock that caused so many to go under.
We found it interesting to follow the timeline of this evolution by tracking ABA’s membership, which peaked in 1995 with 5,500 members across 7,000 stores before dropping as of 2009 to 1,401 members across 1,641 locations. The group’s most recent numbers from 2022 — 2,178 members at 2,593 locations — reflect an ecosystem that is rebounding modestly postpandemic.
We couldn’t be happier. To read is to learn, to feel, to expand your horizons beyond the tiny corner of the world you occupy. To come to the realization that you are but one small part of a much bigger world without ever leaving your sofa.
And if more people are coming to this realization, all the better for us all.
