Barnes & Noble and GameStop founder Leonard Riggio passed away on Tuesday after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease, the family announced. The retail pioneer was 83.
Riggio built Barnes & Noble up over half a century, opening his first college bookstore in Greenwich Village in 1965 and acquiring rival Manhattan store Barnes & Noble in 1971. B&N bought B. Dalton Bookseller, a mall chain, in 1987, and began a strategy of opening superstores, which included cafes and large newsstand offerings. The growth of the chain was accompanied by a decline in the number of independent bookstores, who found it difficult to compete with B&N’s size and selection.
B&N continued to expand until the store count peaked at 726 for the fiscal year ended January 2009. But Amazon’s emergence on the retail scene in 1995 and the growth of digital content took their toll, leading to a challenging sales environment through the teens. But it was during that period that Barnes & Noble expanded its selection of manga, graphic novels, and hobby games, dramatically impacting sales in those categories.
Riggio was a pioneer of retailing beyond Barnes & Noble. He also founded Barnes & Noble College Bookstores, a contract operator of college stores across the U.S., Software, Etc., and in 1999, GameStop, which grew to over 7000 stores worldwide.
Through the teens, Riggio was in and out as Barnes & Noble CEO multiple times in a period when the company had at least five CEOs. He came back one last time to oversee the sale of the chain to Waterstones parent Elliott Management Corporation in 2019 (see "B&N Sold to Elliott"), ensuring that the company would be run by a bookseller.

Retail Pioneer Passes at 83
Posted by Milton Griepp on August 29, 2024 @ 1:50 am CT

MORE COMICS
Plus: Middle-Grade Peach-Pit, New Titles from Creators of 'That Wolf-Boy Is Mine,' 'Otomen'
July 10, 2025
Other newly announced shojo titles include a middle-grade series by Peach-Pit and new series by the creators of That Wolf-Boy Is Mine and Otomen.
Day and Date with Print Release
July 10, 2025
GlobalComix is now offering IDW Publishing titles day and date with print release.
MORE NEWS
Robot-fighting Card Game by DV Games
July 10, 2025
DV Games will release Rumblebots, a new card game, into retail.
Former Chairman and CEO of Hasbro
July 10, 2025
Former Chairman and CEO of Hasbro Alan Hassenfeld has passed away on July 8, 2025.