Barnes & Noble is undergoing a massive transformation throughout the majority of their locations in response to declining bookstore sales in the US. Part of this transformation includes breaking an important rule most chains follow, consistency. The company is allowing locations to run their own social media accounts and format their stores to look more like the community they exist in. James Daunt, Barnes & Noble CEO, joins Yahoo Finance to discuss these changes and how the company will begin to operate moving forward.

Daunt explains part of the transformation with social media: "What we have done is empower local book sellers in each individual store to run its own social media platforms, to engage via Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, whichever, and indeed, probably all of those, and to do so in a way that is sort of sensible and engaging for the local community. Luckily, we employ lots of young people and they're dramatically better at doing it than people with gray hair like me, and it has been successful for us."

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Video Transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: I do want to ask about some of the headwinds that we're seeing here. 2023 has been a year for labor unions. We have seen that push, Barnes & Noble not exempt from that push, as well. How are you managing helping employees and booksellers with the cost of living, while also keeping in mind, people are pulling back on some of their spending, or perhaps down spending, or perhaps looking for a cheaper alternatives?

JAMES DAUNT: Well, we're lucky because our sales are continuing to rise. And I think as long as we continue to offer better bookstores, the sales will, hopefully, keep on increasing. As we increase our sales, it's how then responsibly and sensibly we use that profit. Part of it is on improving the business, part of it is on opening new stores, but a large part of it has to be on pay for our employees, the booksellers who are driving this. And it's trying to create a balance between the competing demands, all of which are very important to drive a business forward, but pay is very important. And as you say, quite rightly, there's a demand from those at the lower end of the scale to have more.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And so as you look at some of the other trends-- we talked about labor unions, but also changing consumers. You can't think about marketing and advertising without thinking about social media and, of course, TikTok very prominent. When you're taking this neighborhood approach to bookstores, how are you gauging that content, drawing perhaps new customers into the line, but also gauging how you're tracking that, how are you able to predict some of these trends, as well, especially going into the holidays?

JAMES DAUNT: Well, I think again, counterintuitively, we've pulled back entirely from trying to do it from a central perspective. I think doing it from New York City makes very little sense if you're running stores all over the country. But what we have done is empower the local booksellers in each individual store to run its own social media platforms, to engage, be it Instagram, Pinterest, as you say, TikTok, whichever, and indeed, probably all of those, and to do so in a way that is sensible and engaging for the local community.

Luckily, we employ lots of young people, and they're dramatically better at doing it than people with gray hair, like me. And it has been [INAUDIBLE] successful for us, but very varied, very inventive, sometimes very funny, and helpfully, so far, only very occasionally getting us into trouble. But it is not trying to control it corporately, it's just let it roll.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And James, I have to ask you, what are you reading at the moment?

JAMES DAUNT: Oh, I'm always reading. I belatedly and have just finished the "Heaven and Earth Grocery Store" with James McBride, which I absolutely recommend to everybody. It is the most fantastic novel. They come along every few years, and we've got a wonderful one, and it is one of our books. "The Wager," which you have up there is also a really, really good read. "Grisham" I haven't got to yet.