Legendary retailer Leonard Riggio dies at 83
The man credited with transforming the book publishing industry has passed away.
Leonard Riggio, the founder and former chairman of Barnes & Noble, died following a battle with Alzheimer's disease, according to a family statement. He was 83.
Riggio founded Barnes & Noble in 1971 (with a $1.2 million loan) when he acquired the trade name and its single, struggling location in Manhattan. From the one store, he would go on to build a retail behemoth, the country's largest bookstore chain with hundreds of stores coast to coast.
By the end of the 1990s, an estimated one of every eight nonacademic books sold in the U.S. was purchased through the chain, which by then also included B. Dalton stores. According to an AP report, in RIggio's time, "no one in the book world was more feared.”
“With the power to make any given book a best seller, or a flop, to alter the market on an idle whim, Riggio could terrify publishers simply by suggesting prices were too high or that he might sign up such top sellers as Stephen King and John Grisham and publish them himself,” the report said.
Riggio transformed book-selling into a destination event when, starting in the 1990s, he focused on opening "superstores,” that combined discount prices and huge selection with comfortable seating and in-store cafes. The spaces encouraged lingering and socializing.
In addition to Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Riggio also founded Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, the largest operator of college campus bookstores, MBS Textbook Exchange, the largest wholesale textbook distributor, and GameStop, the largest operator of videogame and entertainment software stores. At the pinnacle of his career, the companies he operated totaled more than 5,000 retail stores across the 50 states.
Riggio stepped down as chairman in 2019 after Barnes & Noble was acquired by Elliott Advisors (UK) Limited and taken private.
[READ MORE: Barnes & Noble acquired]
An art lover and champion of civil rights, Riggio invested in a wide range of causes focused on the art, education and social justice. He founded Dia Beacon, the museum/art park in Beacon, N.Y., and served on the board of the Children's Defense Fund, where he organized and funded the 1996 Stand for Children March in Washington, D.C.
In the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Riggio created Project Home Again, building and giving away 101 homes to families in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, revitalizing and reinvigorating an entire neighborhood that had been ravaged by the storm.
Born in the Little Italy section of New York City, Riggio was the son of a professional boxer turned cabdriver. His career as a bookseller began in the early 1960s, when he took a job at New York University’s college bookstore to help pay for his tuition.
To read the family statement about Riggio, click here. To read the full AP report, click here.
