Waterstones ditches apostrophe - Telegraph However the retailer's new head, James Daunt, who also founded rival book chain Daunt Books, is jettisoning 30 years of bookselling history by altering the punctuation, to become Waterstones. "Waterstones without an apostrophe is, in a digital world of URLs and email addresses, a more versatile and practical spelling," said Mr Daunt. Mr Daunt said: "It reflects an altogether truer picture of our business today which, while created by one, is now built on the continued contribution of thousands of individual booksellers." The retailer's logo will also revert to its old Baskerville typeface after a trendy redesign a few years ago resulted in the "W" being written in the lower case. "Waterstones is an iconic brand deserving of a capital W," said Mr Daunt. The new name will be gradually implemented on all of the retailer's written communication, in stores and online. The book chain was bought last year by Russian businessman Alexander Mamut from HMV Group, the struggling music retailer.