Wow, you have a lux B&N. Most of them are desperately understaffed, between the need to reshelve books, receive inventory, manage "cash-wrap" for the long checkout lines, corral running kids, ask the guy destroying the manga to stop folding the covers, straighten the magazines that have been scattered by readers, pick up the trash patrons leave all over the store, check the bathrooms for various "presents" people leave behind, and oh yeah, help folks find the exact book they wanted from the query "that book by that guy who was a chef and then did special forces but now has that book about contract bridge" so they can flip through it and order it from Amazon.

The cost cutting has happened in many places and if it continues, sadly, even a hedge fund won't be able to save it. Sure, lots of room to improve, and a mix of cut the bad and add the good will help. But don't fool yourself, retail is hard and B&N, the good ones, is real work. I wish them the best but it's a hard road.

I seem to remember reading a story a few years ago about them laying off all their long tenured employees

Unless I'm mistaken, this is just saying that the fund purchased B&N with cash. That doesn't mean they haven't taken on debt to do so.

I agree with this. Almost all LBOs are cash transactions financed with debt.