The world looks a little bit different compared to how it was a few years ago.
We went to our offices, hosted dinner parties and birthday gatherings, gorged on social media during our free time, and might have watched a TV show or two on the weekend.
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Of course, five years ago, most of us hadn't heard much about COVID-19.
We didn't know much about social distancing, mask-wearing, keeping six feet apart at all times, and the momentary importance of wiping our groceries before putting them away (remember that?).
Now, those memories may seem all too familiar. And they may not bring back the best feelings.
But COVID-19 did bring about some rather fascinating social changes, and some of them may have been for the better.
We all got really comfortable on video conference calls, for example.
Many of us picked up new hobbies. Maybe it was reading, watching extremely niche game show dramas on Netflix, crocheting, meditating, exercising, baking sourdough bread, bedazzling legos, or oil painting.
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Whatever it was, many Americans suddenly found themselves with a lot more time on their hands during the pandemic.
And those newfound hobbies opened up a new market opportunity for retailers.
Reading makes a good market
Reading may have seen one of the biggest resurgences during and after the pandemic.
While many folks opted for social media or television, plenty of folks who felt tapped out on screen time opted for a slower hobby that encouraged unplugging and tapping into an old familiar skill.
One of the initial recipients of Americans' newfound love for reading was Amazon (AMZN) , which makes perfect sense.
The retail giant, which began as an online bookseller, was happy to oblige, delivering more books, particularly its Kindle e-books, during the height of the pandemic.
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Kindle Unlimited, Amazon's monthly Kindle subscription, had its best month ever in March 2020, and Amazon said it saw a discernible bump in both paper and online book sales during the pandemic.
But it wasn't just Amazon that benefited from interest in reading.
As the world began to reopen, many shoppers opted instead to go in person and procure their next reads. This spelled great news for Barnes & Noble, the formerly troubled bookseller which had seen seven quarters of consecutive losses by early 2019.
Barnes & Noble makes a comeback
However, in late 2019, Elliot Management acquired Barnes & Noble, and a turnaround commenced.
It used a period of closures thanks to COVID-19 to completely restructure and renovate many of its stores. So, by the time the great reopening began, Barnes & Noble was poised for a more enjoyable shopping experience, and customers were hungry for a quiet and relaxing place to get lost in for a few hours.
2021 saw a record number of books sold in the U.S., and Barnes & Noble began opening more stores as a renewed enthusiasm for reading took hold. It opened eight stores in 2021, 15 in 2022, 30 in 2023, and 57 in 2024.
And in 2025, Barnes & Noble announced it plans to open even more stores. The bookseller anticipates it will open at least 60 new stores this year, with some stores in high-rent and high-foot-traffic areas, like Georgetown, in Washington, D.C.
“[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 said. “In 2024, Barnes & Noble opened more new bookstores in a single year than it had in the whole decade from 2009 to 2019...[It] is enjoying a period of tremendous growth as the strategy to hand control of each bookstore to its local booksellers has proven so successful.”
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And perhaps ironically, some of this success has to be partly due to social media.
#BookTok, a community of book lovers on TikTok, has over 45.5 million posts on the popular platform. Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble feature searches and book displays that are popular on BookTok, trying to capitalize on the growth and forge that community in real life.
“Most of these book phenomena are actually embedded in the bookstore infrastructure,” Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt said.
Currently, one of the most popular books on BookTok is "Onyx Storm," a young adult romantic fantasy that is now the fastest-selling book in its category in 20 years. Many bookstores saw readers lining up just before opening to grab their copy of the book.
Daunt added that TikTok has contributed to an "explosion of reading," and while he doesn't credit it with a complete turnaround of Barnes & Noble, it certainly helped.
“Since the rise of BookTok during the pandemic, bookstores have seen a significant surge in popularity, especially among young people,” Barnes & Noble said. “Our stores have become popular social spots, offering an experience that online shopping simply can’t match.”
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