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Barnes & Noble
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Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered in lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
The company operates the chain of small "B. Dalton Booksellers" stores in malls.
The company is known for large, upscale retail outlets, many of which contain a café serving Starbucks Coffee, and for competitive discounting of bestsellers.
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Encyclopedia
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered in lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
The company operates the chain of small "B. Dalton Booksellers" stores in malls.
The company is known for large, upscale retail outlets, many of which contain a café serving Starbucks Coffee, and for competitive discounting of bestsellers. Most stores also sell magazines, newspapers, DVDs, graphic novels, gifts, games, and music. Video games and related items were sold in the company's GameStop retail outlets until October 2004, when the division was spun-off into an independent company.
As of May 2, 2008, the company operated 798 stores in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Of them, 85 are B. Dalton outlets. The company has closed 882 B. Dalton stores since 1989 and says that they will continue to do so.
History
Barnes & Noble originated in 1873 when Charles Barnes opened a book-printing business in Wheaton, Illinois. The first true bookstore was set up by his son, William, in partnership with G. Clifford Noble, in 1917 in New York City. The original bookstore was located at 31 West 15th St., and opened during World War I. In 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, the bookstore was moved to its current flagship location on 18th street and Fifth avenue.
The business was purchased in 1971 by Leonard Riggio, who oversaw the growth of the business. In 1974, Barnes & Noble became the first bookstore to advertise on TV, and a year later, the company became the first bookseller in America to discount books, by selling New York Times best-selling titles at 40% off the publishers’ list price. During the 1970s and 1980s, Barnes & Noble opened smaller discount stores, which were eventually phased out in favor of larger stores.
They also began to publish their own books to be sold to mail-order customers. These titles were primarily affordable reissues of out-of-print titles, and selling them through mail-order catalogs allowed Barnes & Noble to reach new customers nationwide.
Barnes & Noble continued to expand throughout the 1980s, and in 1987 purchased B. Dalton Bookseller from Dayton Hudson. The acquisition of 797 bookstores turned the company into a nationwide retailer and the second-largest bookseller in the United States. B&N's critics claim that it has contributed to the decline of local and independent booksellers.
In 2002, Leonard Riggio's brother Stephen Riggio was named CEO.
Web site
Before Barnes & Noble created its web site, it sold books directly to customers through mail-order catalogs. It first began selling books online in the late 1980s, but the company’s web site was not launched until May 1997. The site now carries over 1 million titles.
Publishing
Barnes & Noble publishes many of the books it sells, inexpensively reprinting non-copyrighted titles or acquiring the U.S. or English language rights from another publisher. In addition, Barnes & Noble commissions reprint anthologies and omnibus editions using in-house editors.
Barnes & Noble began to publish books during the 1980s, when they started reissuing out-of-print titles. One of these titles, The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense by Suzette Haden Elgin, has sold over 250,000 copies. The reissued edition of The Columbia History of the World by John Garrity has sold over 1 million copies.
Since then, the company has expanded its publishing operation. This expansion was aided by the company’s acquisition of SparkNotes, an educational website and publishing company. Further expansions of the company’s publishing business include the purchase of how-to publisher Sterling Publishing in 2003 and the launch of Quamut in 2008.
From circa 1992 through early 2003, Barnes & Noble released a series of literary classics for adults and children under the imprint Barnes & Noble Classics Collection. Originally available only in hardcover, most titles came in a black or cream-colored dustjacket edition. In 2003, Barnes & Noble revamped and expanded its line of literature classics, releasing books in hardcover, trade paperback and mass-market editions.
Cafés
The first store to feature a café serving Starbucks beverages was in Springfield, NJ in 1993. Since then, most stores have been amended or constructed specifically to feature a cafe serving Starbucks beverages, Harney & Sons or Tazo Tea, FIJI Bottled Water, bakery goods from The Cheesecake Factory, candy from Godiva Chocolatiers, sandwiches and other specialty products. Although the cafés are owned and operated by Barnes & Noble, servers follow Starbucks' standards in beverage preparation; the prominent Starbucks logo is sometimes confusing for customers wanting to use Starbucks stored-value cards or the Starbucks Gold Card, which are not accepted (Although the Barnes & Noble Membership is accepted to receive a discount on any Cafe related good).
Wi-Fi
In 2004, Barnes & Noble began offering Wi-Fi in the café area of selected stores, using the AT&T FreedomLink network. All 793 stores currently offer Wi-Fi, an effort which was completed in 2006. Often, AT&T and Barnes & Noble offer free Wi-Fi access during promotional campaigns with use of a coupon, but Wi-Fi is not normally provided free of charge; payment goes to AT&T Online.
Membership and discount programs
In addition to discounting bestsellers, Barnes & Noble also has a membership program that offers additional savings for its members. Members purchase a discount card for $25, which is active until the end of the same month during the following calendar year. For example, a card purchased on January 7, 2009, will expire after January 31, 2010. With said card, a member can save 40% on hardcover bestsellers, 20% on all adult reading level hardcover books that are not bargain titles, and 10% on everything else (excluding gift cards, shipping fees, and other member cards). The card can also be used online to ship books directly to your house, with free shipping if your order is over twenty five dollars. Once a membership card has expired, it must be renewed and the fee repaid in order for the customer to continue receiving discounts. Barnes & Noble also has an educator discount program, a corporate and an institutional discount.
Community involvement
Barnes & Noble hires community relations managers to engage in community outreach. The responsibilities of these managers include organizing in-store events, such as author appearances, children’s storytimes and book groups. Community relations managers work closely with local schools and groups for the promotion of literacy and the arts. One of the things that Barnes & Noble does in the community is sponsor a children's summer reading program that promotes literacy and puts over 2 million books into the hands of the children each year. Barnes & Noble also hosts bookfairs which raise funds for schools and libraries. The company also hosts an annual holiday book drive to collect books for disadvantaged children. 1.16 million books were collected and distributed in 2007.
Steve Riggio, CEO
Steve Riggio is CEO of Barnes & Noble, Inc. He is also vice chairman of the company and served on the board of directors. Riggio began his career at Barnes & Noble in 1975 after graduating from Brooklyn College. After getting his start in the buying and merchandising departments, he became general manager and vice president of the company’s direct mail division. He held this position from 1981 to 1987. Riggio became executive vice president of merchandising in 1987. Then, in 1995, he was appointed chief operating officer. He was appointed CEO in January 2003. In addition to his career at Barnes & Noble, Riggio serves on the board of directors of the National Book Foundation, Association for the Help of Retarded Children and the National Down Syndrome Society. According to Forbes.com, in 2007 Riggio’s salary is $786,358 a year. He also earns $2,323,942 in other long-term compensation, for a grand yearly total of $3,110,480.
College bookstores
Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, Inc. is a privately held company, headquartered in Basking Ridge, NJ, controlled by Barnes & Noble's chairman which operates bookstores at more than 600 institutions of higher education. The college chain is the owner of the Barnes & Noble trademarks, which are licensed without charge to the general bookselling chain.
Barnes & Noble College Booksellers also operates the self-proclaimed "world's largest bookstore," located on Fifth Avenue and 18th Street in New York City. This flagship store carries a large variety of textbooks, medical books, and medical supplies in addition to the various trade titles carried at Barnes & Noble, Inc. stores.
Barnes & Noble college bookstores accept Barnes & Noble gift cards and store-value cards.
See also
External links
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