! ! ! !
Patricia DelGaudio Pablo Ulpiano Bahar Bayraktar Payal Shah
Barnes & Noble is a company that while switching hands multiple times through their 139 year history has always remained true to their vision; create a unique, engaging environment where patrons want to stay and interact with books. They were innovators in the field of book retailing offering inventive practices (Nook), brilliant partnerships (Starbucks) and strategic solutions (discounting books) as the industry has evolved. Their strong partnership in education has been a differentiator in their business still being considered the largest book retailer today with more than 600 college bookstores serving 4 million students and 250,000 faculty members across the country 1. Their global expansion via their online bookstore had opened them up to markets they would have never otherwise had access to. Then with the addition of the Nook, which has synced seamlessly with their retail offering of eBooks, Barnes & Noble has positioned themselves to continue their passion and partnership with education to make the Nook the modern day textbook. In the late 1800’s Chicago was the countries second largest city with a booming printing industry because of the invention of Linotype. Linotype was at the time considered to be the greatest advance in printing in books to be printed at a faster rate and for less money than prior. Chicago’s rapid growth was attributed to the rapid development and expansion of the railroad. The railroad allowed distribution of reference books and school books leading to the opening of Chicago’s first public library in 1873. The first library was a sign of the growth in literacy. Between 1860 and 1870 literacy quadrupled due to enrollment in public schools 2. This coincided with the opening of the C.M. Barnes Company in 1873 which would later be renamed as the now famous Barnes & Noble. C.M. Barnes Company started out selling second-hand books, which by 1894 were almost exclusively second-hand text books. Because of their location and access to the rest of the country by railroad they quickly became a leader in the sale and distribution of second-hand text books. In 1917, William Barnes, son to C.M. Barnes, moves to New York City by invitation of Clifford Noble to acquire interest in the educational bookstore Noble & Noble, which was soon renamed Barnes & Noble (B&N). During this time literary culture was becoming part of everyday life and the demand for books kept growing with the extension of literacy through secondary and postsecondary education. Even during the great depression B&N continued to grow. William Barnes is quoted during the great depression as saying, "During the present economic crisis there has developed a demand for serious and thought-provoking books among the general
1
“Barnes & Noble”, Wikipedia
2
John L. Rury, “Schools and Education”, Encyclopedia of Chicago page 1
! ! ! !
Patricia DelGaudio Pablo Ulpiano Bahar Bayraktar Payal Shah
public, supplementing the constant requirements of students, schools, libraries and dealers". Literature at this time reflected the times in which people lived. Notable books covered topics like big business, urban problems, racism, women's issues and worker's problems to name a few. In 1910, 9% percent of Americans had a high school diploma; in 1935, the rate was 40% and by 1940, the number had increased to 50% 3. This increase in business warranted a new store. In 1932, B&N opened their Flagship store at Fifth Avenue and 18th Street (which earned a Guinness Book of World Records in 1972 as "the World's Largest Bookstore) which has since been remodeled to accommodate the rush during textbook season, often employing a staff of over 300 in order to operate at top efficiency. It set the standard for college bookstores. In 1941 B&N instituted a service referred to as the "book-a-teria". A clerk would hand the customer a sales slip as he/she entered the store. Purchases were recorded on the slip by one clerk, money would be taken by another, and wrapping and bagging of the textbooks done by another. This service was soon picked up by other college bookstores.The New York store was also a pioneer in the use of "Music by Muzak," which piped-in music that would be interrupted at 12minute intervals by announcements and advertising4. The increase in these numbers was due largely in part to WWII. By 1944 millions of draftees had been rejected by the army because they were illiterate. The introduction of the GI Bill paid the college tuition for millions of veterans, who often became the first members of their families to receive a college education. So successful was this program (7.8 million veterans participated) that it packed classrooms after the war5 . The demand for textbooks only grew giving way for expansion to additional stores. The experience of B&N bookstores was always something of great vision to William Barnes and this vision was continued when the Barnes Family decided to sell the book stores to Leonard Riggio in 1971. Riggio is credited as being responsible for the expansion and true push of experience at B&N stores including the first television commercial by a book retailer in 19746. Amenities such as Starbucks coffee bars and children's play areas, where local managers had the autonomy to arrange poetry readings and puppet shows were added to stores. Wide aisles and scattered sofas were designed to be pleasant public spaces where people would browse, read, and mingle. This sort of community engagement has become a brand differentiator for 3
“History of Education in the United States”, Wikipedia
4
“Barnes & Noble, Inc.”, Funding Universe
5
“Barnes & Noble History; Innovations”, www.barnesandnobleinc.com
6
“The 1940s: Education: Overview”, www.encycolpedia.com, ©2001 The Gale Group, Inc. page 2
! ! ! !
Patricia DelGaudio Pablo Ulpiano Bahar Bayraktar Payal Shah
B&N. Part of Riggio’s expanded vision was to change the way the store was organized by categories. He believed more people read books for information than for entertainment and the store’s stock should reflect that. In 1976 a gamble was taken on a new kind of store a ‘supermarket’. It was a giant sales annex that sprawled over three buildings where all books at the annex were discounted between 40 and 90 percent, even new books and bestsellers which was a first at the time7. Throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s B&N grew acquiring independent and competitive bookstores (such as B. Dalton) expanding them into the suburban mall atmosphere, until 1993 when B&N went public. The growth over the years had brought enormous debt and B&N needed cash offering an Initial Public Stock Offering to raise funds 8. Since then the industry has changed... dramatically. Book sales have moved from the store to the internet and the sale of printed books has moved to digital eBooks. While B&N did not lead the industry they have managed to survive because of their understanding the need to evolve and embrace change. They released the Nook in 2009, a digital tablet eReader that coincides directly with their website for the instant purchase of eBooks. It was this device that has really allowed them to stay in the industry while other competitors such as Borders have since closed. The change doesn’t stop for B&N. They have been innovators throughout their history and more are needed in order for them to continue to be profitable and survive. Our team has recommendations for B&N to keep progressing forward. These recommendations tie back to the history of the company and to the future of the book and experience of the retail store. 1 / Environmental responsibility initiative: exemplified through recycling physical books and re-transforming knowledge, information, communication. These transformations will be communicated and provided in a way to allow for new ways of sharing knowledge, depending on the functional products created and the contextual arrangements of where and when they may be in use. 2 / History of the printed word: an artistic expression. With B&N's founding and presence in NYC as purveyors of the artist as a writer, it seemed natural to tap into one of the largest pools of visual artists and pair them with authors to create visual interpretations of the printed words.
7
“Barnes & Noble, Inc.”, Funding Universe
8
“Barnes & Noble, Inc.”, Funding Universe page 3
! ! ! !
Patricia DelGaudio Pablo Ulpiano Bahar Bayraktar Payal Shah
Works will include both traditional artistic expression, theatrical and technological to really encompass the journey that the printed word had made to present day. A curated gallery event will be the pinnacle of debut with artworks being auctioned off to the public as well as many piece going into the permanent galleries of notable B&N stores. 3 / Transforming words into a lifestyle element: Inviting typographers from all over the world to print their typefaces onto fabrics giving them the opportunity to display and manifest their work on another medium and explore possibilities. This would give birth to a "typographic fashion line". It will help shorten the gap between creator(typographer) and the manifestator (B&N) and in-turn will serve purpose to the brand's essence of providing an experience beyond books. It will capture the chain of creation – typographer>fonts>authors>print>legibility>lifestyle. The fashion show will be held at the B&N flagship store and a few creations will be sold at all Barnes and Noble stores. 4 / Reading becoming a social experience again. Library in every classroom or even in every pocket. Students can do their reading and their post-it note responses electronically! Getting children reading and helping them to love reading is the way to turn their lives around and give them new opportunities and aspirations. This would be B&N's future mission. Students would study more if they could access their textbooks from anywhere so they could do their reading and their post-it note responses electronically. Nook would implement a virtual library in every classroom giving students access via the Nook. Reading would become a social experience again connecting books to commentary, critique and contextual information, letting readers explore a topic from multiple perspectives. B&N would also collaborate with University Press to digitized their scholarly publications into Nook eBooks for preservation and knowledge distribution. It could be called the "B&N's Nook Project." 5 / Self publishing is the future of books: While competition such as Amazon are already doing this, B&N needs to make this an immediate action item. This method of publishing would continue their strong relationship with small publishers as well as authors and directly promote the eBook on their Nook.
page 4