Barnes & Noble history

By 1894 Barnes's firm, reorganized as C.M. Barnes Company, dealt exclusively in school books.

In 1902 C.M. Barnes's son, William R. Barnes, became president of the firm, and he continued the business in partnership with several other men.

In 1917, his son, William, went to New York to join G. Clifford Noble in establishing Barnes & Noble.

In 1930, Noble sold his share of the company to William Barnes' son, John Wilcox Barnes.

The Noble family retained ownership of an associated publishing business, and Barnes & Noble opened a new publishing division in 1931.

1932: Company's flagship retail store is opened on New York's Fifth Avenue and 18th Street.

In 1940, the store was one of the first businesses to feature Muzak, and it underwent a major renovation the following year.

In 1941 the store instituted a "book-a-teria" service that was soon picked up by other college bookstores.

John Barnes died in 1964, and the company was sold to the conglomerate Amtel two years later.

In 1965, when he was only 24, Riggio borrowed $5,000 to open his own college bookstore, the Waverly Book Exchange.

John Barnes, the last family member to run the business, died in 1969, and Barnes & Noble was bought by Amtel, a corporation that also made toys and tools.

In 1971, bookseller Leonard Riggio acquired the Barnes & Noble trade name and flagship bookstore in Manhattan, merging it with his own thriving bookselling business.

The Guiness Book of World Records for 1972 listed Barnes & Noble as the world's largest bookstore.

In 1974, Barnes & Noble became the first bookstore chain to advertise on television and a year later, the company became the first bookseller in the United States to discount books, by selling The New York Times best-selling titles at 40% off the publishers' list price.

By 1976, the company leased and operated 21 campus bookstores, and the combined retail and wholesale divisions brought in $32 million in sales.

In 1979 Barnes & Noble acquired a chain of retail stores called Bookmasters, and then bought up Marboro Books, Inc., a remainder company with discount retail outlets.

symons, allene. "barnes & noble to buy b. dalton: will become largest chain." publishers weekly, 12 december 1986.

In 1987, the Company made its largest acquisition – 797 retail bookstores – when it purchased B. Dalton Bookseller, making the Company a nationwide retailer overnight and the second-largest bookseller in America.

More than 50 of these mall-based stores were closed every year beginning in 1989.

In 1990, after an early career as an investment banker, he opened his own bookstore in London, called Daunt Books.

Though sales for 1991 were more than $892 million, Barnes & Noble, Inc. posted a loss of close to $8 million that year.

On one day in August 1992, Barnes & Noble opened five su perstores, and two months later opened three more.

In September 1993, Barnes & Noble became a publicly traded company by issuing $77 million worth of stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the BKS ticker symbol.

For the fiscal year ending in January 1994, Barnes & Noble report ed an 87 percent gain in revenue at its superstores.

During the 1995 fiscal year, Barnes & Noble opened 97 additional superstores, bringing the total to 358.

In 1996 Barnes & Noble bought a 20 percent stake in Chapters Inc. , the largest book retailer in Canada, but sold it three years later.

For the fiscal year ending in January 1997, revenues soared past the $2 billion mark, reaching $2.45 billion, an increase of more than 23 percent over the previous year.

1998: Bertelsmann AG acquires a 50 percent stake in barnesandn oble.com.

In May 1999 Barnes & Noble and Bertelsmann took barnesandnoble.c om public, selling 18 percent of the company and raising another $ ;421.6 million for its war chest.

In June 2000 Barnes & Noble acquired Funco, Inc., operator of 400 FuncoLand video game stores.

CEO Leonard Riggio stepped down in 2002, naming his younger brother and former acting chief executive of BarnesandNoble.com, Stephen Riggio, to succeed him.

On the online side, Barnes & Noble in September 2003 bought out B ertelsmann's interest in barnesandnoble.com.

The onli ne bookseller had yet to turn a profit, but its performance was stead ily improving, and in 2004 its net loss narrowed by 18 percent.

For the fiscal year ending in January 2005 total sales amounted to &# 36;4.87 billion, with 85 percent coming from Barnes & Noble super stores.

In 2009, the Company entered the eBook market with its acquisition of Fictionwise and launched its NOOK® brand of e-Reading products, which provide a fun, easy-to-use and immersive digital reading experience.

The last B. Dalton stores were scheduled to close in January 2010.

After the bankruptcy and closure of its chief competitor, Borders Group, in 2011, Barnes & Noble became the last remaining national bookstore chain in the United States.

When Lynch resigned in mid-2013, he was replaced by Chief Financial Officer Michael Huseby early the next year.

In mid-2014, the company announced it would separate its Nook Media division from its retail store division.

Following the spinoff of Barnes & Noble Education, Huseby departed to head the new firm; his place was filled in mid-2015 by Ronald Boire, who departed one year later.

In 2016, Barnes & Noble began introducing new prototype stores in select markets across the country, featuring a contemporary aesthetic with books at the center, expanded food and beverage offerings, and comfortable seating for a welcoming customer experience.

Elliott’s acquisition of Barnes & Noble followed its June 2018 acquisition of Waterstones, the largest retail bookseller in the United Kingdom.

The company remained on the stock exchange until August 2019 when Elliot Management purchased all of the company's stock and took the company private.

In March 2020, Barnes & Noble announced that they would temporarily stop selling magazines and, likewise temporarily, close 400 of their 620 stores due to the COVID-19 pandemic.