Barnes & Noble, Inc. Type Public (NYSE: BKS) Founded During the Great Depression on Fifth Avenue in New York, New York Location New York, New York Key people Leonard Riggio, Chairman Steve Riggio, CEO, Vice Chairman Mitchell S. Klipper, COO Industry Retail (Specialty) Products Barnes & Noble Booksellers B. Dalton Scribner's Bookstores Doubleday Bookstores BN.com Sterling Publishing Co. Revenue Employees 42,000 (2004) Website barnesandnobleinc.com A typical Barnes & Noble bookstore. Barnes & Noble, Inc. is a large United States speciality retailer, which operates chiefly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores. Additionally, in some markets, the company operates the smaller Bookstar and B. Dalton Booksellers chains, with the latter's branches chiefly located in shopping malls. The company is known for large, upscale retail outlets, many of which contain a cafГ© serving Starbucks Coffee, and for competitive discounting of bestsellers. Most stores also sell magazines, newspapers, DVDs, graphic novels, gifts, games, and music. In addition, most stores have bargain book sections, which have products such as hardcover books with deep discounts. 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 January 31, 2004, the company operated 840 stores in 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. They plan to open 30-35 new stores every year. Contents 1 History 2 Publishing 3 Starbucks and Barnes & Noble 4 Barnes & Noble College Bookstores 5 External links History Barnes & Noble's start could be traced back to 1873 when Charles M. Barnes opened up a store in Wheaton, Illinois as a book printer. The first true bookstore was actually set up by his son, William (in partnership with G. Clifford Noble), in 1917 in New York City. During the 1950s and 60's their bookstore in New York vied with Brentano's as a new-book retailer. Barnes & Noble distinguished itself by selling textbooks, scholarly, and technical books as well as a huge selection of general-interest titles. The business was purchased in 1971 by Leonard Riggio, its current chairman. Riggio oversaw the growth of the struggling business into the largest retailer of books in North America, where its critics claim it has contributed (along with online retailer Amazon.com) to the decline of local booksellers. In 2002, Leonard Riggio's brother Stephen Riggio was named CEO. The chain opened an online bookstore, bn.com, in 1997, largely to compete with Amazon. The two businesses make an interesting comparison, because as of 2003 Amazon was and is a pure Internet business, while Barnes & Noble combines what is practically a clone of the Amazon Internet bookstore with their huge chain of brick-and-mortar retail stores. Publishing An old theatre converted to a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Rochester, Minnesota. Unlike most other bookstore chains, Barnes & Noble has a significant publishing business line. Under its own imprint, Barnes & Noble publishes a number of specialty titles, particularly large-format coffee table books featuring photography, graphic arts, or maps. These include a number of books where Barnes & Noble has acquired the U.S. or English-language rights from another publisher, or where copyright has expired, and arranges for the material to be inexpensively reprinted, often in Singapore or China. In addition, Barnes & Noble commissions reprint anthologies and omnibus editions using in-house editors. Beginning around 1992 through early 2003, Barnes & Noble released a series of Adult and Children Literature Classics. Originally only available in hardcover, most of the titles came in a black dustjacket version as well as a cream colored dustjacket version. In 2003, Barnes & Noble revamped and expanded the line of Literature Classics as well as released them in both hardcover and paperback mass market editions. As of October 2005 they continue to release new titles to their Classics selection. In 2002, Barnes & Noble acquired Sterling Publishing, which chiefly publishes how-to books. In 2001, Barnes and Noble acquired SparkNotes, popular educational website and publishing company. CEO Stephen Riggio has been quoted as saying that he expects 10% of Barnes & Noble bookstore sales to come from books published in-house. While this has been praised as a good business strategy, it is controversial in both bookselling and publishing industry circles because of the competitive advantages conferred by vertical integration. Starbucks and Barnes & Noble Most Barnes & Noble locations feature a Barnes & Noble CafГ©, serving a modified Starbucks beverage menu, along with bakery items from The Cheesecake Factory and bottled beverages from a multitude of vendors including but not limited to Tazo Teas, Jones Juices, Elliot's Amazing Juices and Fiji Water. B&N CafГ©s are owned and operated exclusively by Barnes & Noble, Inc. Nevertheless, the Starbucks logo is a prominent portion of the overall B&N cafГ© branding package, and is depicted on cups, architectural signage, and employee uniforms. Understandably, this leads to confusion for many customers, often traveling, who attempt to use their Starbucks gift cards, or order drinks that are available in Starbucks stores but are not on the somewhat pared-down Barnes & Noble CafГ© menu. In 2004, Barnes & Noble began offering wi-fi in the cafГ© area of selected stores, using the AT&T FreedomLink network. As of late 2005, service was available in approximately 600 out of B&N's 850 stores, with all stores to be wired by the end of 2006. Barnes & Noble College Bookstores Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, Inc. is a privately held company, which operates college bookstores at more than 500 institutions of higher education including: Columbia University, California State University at Los Angeles, The University of Tampa, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, and the Coop at Harvard. External links Barnes & Noble online bookstore Barnes & Noble corporate website Search Term: "Barnes_%26_Noble" Categories: Retail companies of the United States | Bookstores | Music retailers | Fortune 1000 | Companies based in New York City | 1929 establishments