Just call Barnes & Noble the comeback kid. After years of declining sales, the centenarian bookseller’s about-face began in 2019, when it was acquired by Elliott, the owner of the U.K.’s Waterstones book chain, and taken private. Instead of competing with everything-retailers like Amazon and Walmart, Barnes & Noble recommitted to its original focus: books . A pandemic-era reading revival —and the growing popularity of the TikTok community BookTok —supercharged the strategy. “There was a boom in people wanting a break from screens,” says Shannon DeVito, senior director of book strategy. “People started becoming attracted to the physical book again.” The company also put employees in charge of rearranging shelves, curating displays, and monitoring news and trends in online reader communities to tailor each store’s mix of titles. “That's what really influences what sells books,” DeVito says, adding that Barnes & Noble has experienced solid, consistent growth over the last three years.…