#9: Not to B
If you were shopping for books in the 1970s, you may have stopped at B. Dalton, not Barnes & Noble. B. Dalton Bookseller was founded in 1966 by Bruce Dayton, who changed his last name because “Dalton” sounded more like an authority than Dayton. By the mid-’80s, there were nearly 800 locations. So, why did the book close on them?

The answer is simple: competition from retailers like Barnes & Noble and the lack of new malls. In 1987, Barnes & Noble bought all locations, and they gradually got liquidated. The last location was liquidated in 2013. But in 2022, Barnes and Noble changed their location in the Oviedo Mall in Florida to a B. Dalton. It’s the thought that counts.