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January was a long month, but we finally have some good news in 2025: Bookseller Barnes & Noble plans to open at least 60 new stores this year, topping last years record of 57 stores and marking a steady revival of its brick-and-mortar bookstores across the country. “[Barnes & Noble] is experiencing strong sales in its existing stores and has been opening many new stores after more than 15 years of declining store numbers,” the company told Fast Company. “In 2024, Barnes & Noble opened more new bookstores in a single year than it had in the whole decade from 2009 to 2019 . . . [The company] is enjoying a period of tremendous growth as the strategy to hand control of each bookstore to its local booksellers has proven so successful.” As Fast Company previously reported, after more than a decade of shuttering locations, ultimately closing 150 locations, the chain started ramping up again in 2023 with some 30 new stores. Some of its newest locations opening this year will be in prime retail locations, such as a new D.C. flagship store in upscale Georgetown. 2025 marks a new era for Barnes & Noble and other bookstores thanks to a few factors, including digital fatigue, TikTok’s #BookTok, the loneliness epidemic, and a rise in so-called third spaces (more on that below). But first, heres a list of the cities where Barnes and Noble will be opening new locations in 2025. New Barnes & Noble locations already open in 2025 Bellevue, Washington Town & Country, Texas Naples, Florida Superior, Colorado Brentwood, California Barnes & Noble locations yet to open in 2025 Barnes & Noble told Fast Company the chain also currently has 37 signed leases for upcoming stores in the following statesplus a number of other leases in the works (though it did not offer a timeline for when we can expect the new stores): California Florida Colorado Texas Washington Pennsylvania Ohio Virgina New York Nebraska Michigan Illinois Connecticut Arizona New Hampshire Maryland Kansas Why is there a bookstore revival? While it might seem counterintuitive in this age of digital consumption, with people often buried in their phones, bookstores (and books!) are actually making a comeback. One major reason is the rise of TikTok’s community of avid readers, #BookTok, which has been credited with helping authors sell millions of books, and has evolved into one of the more popular corners of the platform, with creators making videos of book hauls, reviews, and bookcase setups, and swapping recommendations. “Since the rise of BookTok during the pandemic, bookstores have seen a significant surge in popularity, especially among young people,” Barnes & Noble told Fast Company. “Our stores have become popular social spots, offering an experience that online shopping simply cant match.” There’s also a recent rise in “third places,” which are gathering places outside of work and home where people can go to be around other people or meet friends, like coffee shops, bars, and gyms. With loneliness and isolation at an all-time high, people are returning to these third places, including bookstores, because they are free and safe environments stocked with reading material, and often coffee and cold drinkswhich draws in more visitors (this is why many newer bookstores have added a coffee shop or café to help make the store more inviting). Bookstores also offer a way to be around like-minded people who have similar interests. That’s why, around the country, niche bookstoresromance bookstores, in particularare also booming. In fact, more than 20 have opened in the last few years, up from just two in 2020. One of those new bookstores is Lovestruck Books, which just opened smack in the center of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The delightfully decorated store has more than 12,000 books, in addition to a retail area with candles, tea, stationery, and a George Howell Coffee shop. (Author’s note: Yes, I admit that I’ve been thereand ended up staying for an hour. I highly recommend finding a bookstore near you!)
Category:
E-Commerce
Teslas stock (Nasdaq:TSLA) moved lower once again Monday, falling almost 5% in midday trading, the continuation of a fairly steady decline since Donald Trump took office. Shares of the automaker (trading at around $384 per share in midday trading) are down more than $43 a share since their close on Jan. 17, a dip of more than 10%. That comes as CEO Elon Musk has been spending a large percentage of his time running the Department of Government Efficiency in Washington, D.C. and not focusing as heavily on Tesla. The steady drop in Teslas stock is likely due to a variety of factors. Mondays decline follows news that Tesla has lost market share in Sweden and Norway, despite a large increase in overall car demand. In January, Tesla sold 405 new vehicles in Sweden, a 44% drop from the year prior. Norway was down 38% with 689 vehicle sales. Also, the looming enforcement of tariffs on China and Canada (Mexico has been given a one-month delay) are scaring investors. Musk recently conceded on an earnings call with analysts that while Tesla has tried to localize its supply chain, its still very reliant on parts from across the world for all our businesses. Therefore, the imposition of tariffs, which is very likely, will have an impact on our business and profitability. Canada is a key supplier of automotive parts, as is China. And Canadian officials are specifically focusing some of their ire about Trumps tariffs on Musk. Premier Doug Ford announced Monday Ontario would scrap a $100 million contact with Starlink, which is part of Musks SpaceX. (Musk met that news with a tweet reading, Oh well Monday afternoon.) Earnings miss The concern surrounding overseas sales and tariffs comes on the heels of the companys disappointing fourth quarter earnings last Wednesday. The company reported earnings of 73 cents per share, compared to analyst expectations of 76 cents and revenues of $25.71 billion, versus an anticipated $27.26 billion. Revenues were down 8% compared to the same quarter the year prior. Last year marked the first time Tesla deliveries came in lower than the year before. All totaled, the automaker delivered 1.8 million vehicles to customers in 2024. (Tesla does not report precise sales figures, so deliveries are the best barometer of that figure.) Tesla did not reply to Fast Companys request for comment about the stock drop. The company did see a big surge in stock price following Trumps election last November, but has surrendered most of those gains. Tesla closed at just over $342 per share on Nov. 20. It peaked just under $480, but now stands around $384. Tesla stock also has a staggeringly high price-to-earnings ratio. On Monday, it stood at 188.95, compared to Apple and Microsoft, which are in the low- to mid-30s, and the average, which generally ranges from 20 to 25. (Higher P/E ratios indicate a company could be overvalued.) Shareholder questions Musk himself could be causing some of the investor agita, however. His focus on DOGE and government issues has not escaped the companys shareholders. Prior to the Q4 earnings call, investor-submitted questions in the companys digital forum with a slew of concerns about the amount of time Musk is spending at the White House, along with some of his recent actions, including a gesture that has been likened to a Nazi salute. A sampling of those reads: How much time does Elon Musk intend to spend at the White House and on government activities vs time and effort dedicated to Tesla? How much time does Elon Musk devote to growing Tesla, solving product issues, and driving shareholder value vs. his public engagements with Trump, DOGE, and political activities? Do you believe hes providing Tesla the focus it needs? Does the board plan to review the negative image that Elon Musk is having on the Tesla brand and the conflicts between his politics and the Mission Statement? We cant pretend that Elons erratic actions arent negatively effecting [sic] the stock price and brands reputation. What is your plan to curtail the CEOs behavior, and/or replace his position to secure a more likely longevity as a brand? None of those questions were answered.
Category:
E-Commerce
OpenAI is further proving that 2025 is the year of agentic AI. The artificial intelligence giant revealed another new feature from ChatGPT this week, called Deep Research, which it claims can gather research from across the web and summarize it in easy-to-read reports. “Deep research is OpenAI’s next agent that can do work for you independentlyyou give it a prompt, and ChatGPT will find, analyze, and synthesize hundreds of online sources to create a comprehensive report at the level of a research analyst,” the company wrote in a Sunday blog post. Every output shows clear citations and a summary of the agent’s thinking. The tool is powered by its upcoming OpenAI o3 model, which it says “leverages reasoning to search, interpret, and analyze massive amounts of text, images, and PDFs on the internet, pivoting as needed in reaction to information it encounters.” OpenAI says deep research could take anywhere from five minutes to 30 minutes (compared to several minutes to several hours for a human to do). It will alert users when the task is complete, meaning they can step away and get other tasks done. Deep research is available to users who subscribe to GPT Pro, its $200 a month service. It plans to expand it to other paid services over time. But there are limitations. OpenAI said Deep Research can sometimes hallucinate facts or make incorrect inferences. It may also struggle to distinguish rumors from authoritative information. OpenAI said it expects the issues to “quickly improve with more usage and time.” This category of tech, called agentic AI, is different from standard chatbots. Agentic AI can autonomously complete taskslike scheduling a meeting, buying a car, or ordering dinnerwith little human supervision. They understand natural language, set goals, make decisions, and adapt to changing circumstances. Many experts are betting on agentic AI being the next frontier in AI. “Looking further ahead, we envision agentic experiences coming together in ChatGPT for asynchronous, real-world research and execution,” the company said.
Category:
E-Commerce
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