Barnes & Noble founder Leonard Riggio, who built a single bookstore into a national powerhouse, died Tuesday at 83 in New York City, the company said on X. He had Alzheimer’s disease.
Riggio opened his first bookstore in 1965 before buying the sole Barnes & Noble store six years later, where he found success by offering best-selling hardcovers at a discount.
During his decades-long tenure, Riggio orchestrated a series of B&N acquisitions, including scooping up B. Dalton Bookseller, the country’s second-largest bookstore chain at the time, in 1986 and Bookstop just three years later.
Riggio revolutionized the book-selling industry by making customers want to stick around, adding comfortable chairs and storytime hours at B&N locations.
“Len’s vision and entrepreneurial spirit transformed the retail landscape,” the company said in a statement on X.
“His leadership spanned decades, during which he not only grew the company but also nurtured a culture of innovation and a love for reading.”
Riggio stepped down in 2016, remaining upbeat about B&N’s future and determined to hold onto his sizable stake despite stiff competition from online retailers like Amazon and the e-book industry.
“There’s always been gloom and doom about the future of the book business, but it keeps chugging along,” Riggio told The Post in 2016.
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