Barnes and Noble

Barnes and Noble originated in 1873 when Charles Barnes opened a book-printing business in Wheaton, Illinois. Their 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 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. Their affinity towards New York is evident in their choice of artists for their nook covers, but more on the nook later.

In 1974, Barnes and Noble became the first bookstore to advertise on television, 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 and 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 and Noble to reach new customers nationwide. In 1998 Barnes and Noble was the first national book chain to sell board games when they began to sell Cranium.

Barnes and Noble continued to expand throughout the 1980s, and in 1987 purchased the primarily shopping mall-based B. Dalton chain from Dayton Hudson. The last B. Dalton stores are slated to close in January 2010. The acquisition of 797 bookstores turned the company into a nationwide retailer, and as of the end of fiscal year 1999, the second-largest online bookseller in the United States. B&N’s critics claim that it has contributed to the decline of local and independent booksellers.

Before Barnes and 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 website was not launched until May 1997. The site now carries over 1 million titles.

Barnes and Noble Nook is an electronic book reader developed by the company, based on the Android platform. The device was announced in the United States on 20 October 2009, and was released 30 November 2009 for US$259 . On June 21, 2010 Barnes and Noble reduced the Nook’s price to US$199 , as well as announcing the launch of a new Wi-Fi-only model, for US$149 .

The Nook competes with the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, and other readers, and currently includes Wi-Fi and AT&T 3G wireless connectivity, a six inch E Ink display, a web browser, a dictionary, Chess and Sudoku, and a separate, smaller color touchscreen that serves as the primary input device. Find out more.