BARNES & NOBLEA case study by Pablo Ulpiano, Payal Shah,

Bahar Bayraktar, Patricia DelGaudio

Charles Barnes

Born in 1833 in Canton, Illinois, Charles Barnes studied at Knox from 1850 to 1856, and at Chicago Theological Seminary until 1859, then served as a pastor for churches in La Moille and Neponset, Illinois. After suffering a long illness, he left the ministry in the early 1870s.

1873

The Barnes family's history in the book business started in 1873, when Charles Montgomery Barnes went into the second-hand book business in Wheaton, Illinois.

Chicago• From 1850 to 1870 Chicago developed a fully

integrated printing industry with 68 bookstores.

• Population growth by 1870 made Chicago the nation’s 2nd largest city

• Its initial growth was tied to the city´s rapid development as the nation´s rail center.

• Early emergence as distribution point for subscription titles, reference books and school texts.

• Chicago Public Library opened in 1873

• Chicago had become the largest publishing center west of New York City by the 1880s.

School books

• Barnes soon moved to Chicago, selling new and used books. By 1894 Barnes's firm, reorganized as C.M. Barnes Company, dealt exclusively in school books.

• C.M. Barnes Company became a leader in the sale and distribution of school textbooks.

1886: Linotype

• The greatest advance in printing since the development of moveable type 400 years earlier.

• Printing became cheap and especially for the text book sellers, it was a good time for business. More schools were forming.

1902

Barnes was a wealthy man when he retired his business to his third son William Robbins Barnes in 1902.

The expansion of print culture between 1880 and 1940 enabled it to become part of Americans' everyday business, social, political,

and religious lives.

• Magazines, and newspapers were produced more quickly and more cheaply, reaching ever-increasing numbers of readers.

• Readers increasingly adapted print to serve their own purposes, allowing for increased diversity.

• Considering the book in larger social and cultural networks, essays address the rise of consumer culture, the extension of literacy and reading through schooling, the expansion of secondary and postsecondary education and the growth of the textbook industry, the growing influence of the professions and their dependence on print culture, and the history of relevant technology.

• People had more access to education

• Books became more affordable

Literature 1900‘s

As in other decades, books reflected the times in which people lived. Notable books covered topics like big business, urban problems, racism, women's issues and worker's problems.

1904

Hinds, Noble & Eldredge is established as a publishing company.

1917: NYC

William R. Barnes travels to New York City by train with an invitation from Clifford Noble. He then returns to sell his interest in C.M. Barnes - Wilcox Company to John Wilcox.

Education

• The literacy rate that was around 5% in the 1860’s rose to 40% in 1890 and by 1910 it was at 70%. At the beginning of the 20th century about 2 percent of Americans from the ages of 18 to 24 were enrolled in a college. By 1940, 50% of young adults had earned a high school diploma.

• In 1910, 9% percent of Americans had a high school diploma; in 1935, the rate was 40%. By 1940, the number had increased to 50%.

U.S. Public Education

0

12.5

25

37.5

50

1910 1935 1940

% High school diploma earned

1929• Clifford Noble leaves Barnes & Noble during the Great

Depression, although the name remains.

• William R. Barnes, Barnes & Noble's president, called the Great Depression "a blessing in disguise" in the New York Times.

"During the present economic crisis there has developed a demand for serious and thought-provoking books among the general public, supplementing the constant requirements of students, schools, libraries and dealers," Barnes said.

1940’s onward

Its wholesale textbook division bought used books from around 200 campus bookstores all across the East and Midwest.

1932: flagship store• Barnes & Noble opened the flagship retail store on

Fifth Avenue and 18th Street from it’s original Manhattan location at 31 West 15th Street.

• The company is now owned and operated by the Barnes Family. William and his son, John continue to grow Barnes & Noble.

• The company's early business was wholesaling, selling mainly to schools, colleges, libraries, and dealers.

• Some of the novels of this period explored what was happening in the country during the Great Depression.

•

1940’s: Book clubs

Book clubs proliferated, and book sales went from one million to over twelve million volumes a year.

1941The store was enlarged and remodeled setting the standard for college bookstores.

• It served the students of hundreds of New York City schools and colleges, and the store had to operate at top efficiency to accommodate the rush for textbooks at the beginning of each semester.

• Staff during the textbook rush season sometimes numbered over 300, and the store boasted a stock of two million books.

• The successful retail division continued alongside Barnes & Noble's original business of wholesaling to schools and libraries.

“Book-a-teria”

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

• Instead of having an all-in-one clerk, in this system a clerk handed the customer a sales slip as he entered the store. Purchases were recorded on the slip by another clerk, money taken by another, and wrapping and bagging done by another.

• Use of "Music by Muzak," also known as Elevator music. The music interrupted at 12-minute intervals by announcements and advertising.

“Book-a-teria”

Music by Muzak

1944: GI Bill

Millions of draftees were rejected by the army because they were illiterate. The GI Bill paid the college tuition of millions of veterans, who often became the first members of their families to receive a college education. So successful was the program (7.8 million veterans participated) that it packed classrooms after the war.

1944

Barnes & Noble began putting out children's educational books after it took over the publishing firm Hinds, Hayden & Eldredge.

1950’s

Publishers Weekly was advising booksellers to consider locating in the suburbs. Department stores did establish book departments in suburban branches.

1971

Leonard Riggio purchased Barnes & Noble bookstores in 1971.

23 superstores in 1989358 superstores in 1995

0

100

200

300

4001989 1995

• Discount sales between 40 and 90 percent, even new books and bestsellers.

• Superstore Browsing experience: everyday shopper, not the scholar or bibliophile.

• 150,000 titles, or six times the size of a typical mall bookstore.

• Amenities such as coffee bars and children's play areas, and were designed to be pleasant public spaces where people would browse, read, and mingle.

• Wide aisles and scattered chairs and benches encouraged customers to linger, and local managers had the autonomy to arrange poetry readings and puppet shows.

Barnes & Noble was the first bookseller in America to advertise on television.

1974: TV

1995

Jeff Bezos founds Amazon.com as "Earth's biggest book store."

1997

• B&N.com entered the growing yet competitive market for Internet book selling.

• The most important development in publishing since the invention of the printing press itself.

1997

Amazon.com had sales of $147.8 million

1998Barnes & Noble was interested in Ingram for its system of 11 distribution centers spread throughout the country. The acquisition of this system would have cut distribution costs and enabled Barnes & Noble to speed delivery of books to its growing legion of online customers. The acquisition of this system would have cut distribution costs and enabled Barnes & Noble to speed delivery of books to its growing legion of online customers. The acquisition, however, drew strong opposition from independent booksellers as well as from Amazon.com. Federal Trade Commission officials ended up siding with the opponents, and recommended in June 1999 that the agency oppose the deal.

2005

Global sales of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series surpass 300,000,000 printed copies

U.S. Book Sales by Type of Retail Outlet

The e-commerce and mail-order category grew from 11.5% of the book selling market to 30.9% in 2007, and has only grown since then.

2009: Nook

BARNES & NOBLEthe future of the written word

PUBLISHINGTrend forecast #1

Self Publishing• The publishing industry is evolving to

self publishing

• Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson self published instead of waiting for agents and publishers

History is madeStieg Larsson’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

The book was later made into a movie expanding its scope

History is made

History of the Printed Word; An Artistic Expression

The Alphabet Machine

Altered books

Altered books

Altered books

Altered books on display

Altered books in-store

Engage kids with “The history of the word” based art projects as well in rural bookstores

EDUCATIONTrend forecast #2

• Gutenberg: printed books making them economic for readers.

• Monotype and linotype: The literacy rate that was around 5% in the 1860s rose to 70% in 1910.

PAST

PRESENT• Teenagers and young adults are reading

less for fun and more for information

• 66% of public libraries in the U.S. were offering e-books: B&N 'Read in Store'

• 'Nook Study' App: 6,000 e-textbooks available

FUTURE

• Library in every classroom

• Reading becoming a social experience

• The Intelligent Book I: Social sharing & Interactivity

In 2 years every student will have a Nook

FUTURE

• The Intelligent Book II: Semantic Search. Topic from multiple perspectives

• Collaborate with Universities Press to digitized their scholarly publications to Nook. It could be called the "Nook Project."

In 5 years

FUTURE

• Games and play are at the foundation of how people learn, develop and socialize

• Help students hone their literacy skills, connect with friends, and compete and collaborate while learning

In 20 years and beyond the “NOOK Game System”

RE-COMMERCETrend forecast #3

Book Industry Waste

• Facebook page of a non-profit organization – DONATE NOT DUMPSTER

Our mission• Above all, we expect to be a credit to the communities we serve, a

valuable resource to our customers, and a place where our dedicated booksellers can grow and prosper.

• Toward this end we will not only listen to our customers and booksellers but embrace the idea that the company is at their service.

B&N towards the e-book1) Donate

2) Dispose

Re-cycleRe-Use

Re-Up

Re-Purpose

Re-Commerce

Trade-in to Trade-upTrendwatching.com Recommerce Trend of 2012

• Influence or shape the company's vision.

• Inspire to come up with a new business concept, an entirely new venture, a new brand.

• Add a new product, service or experience for a certain customer segment.

• Speak the language of consumers already 'living' this trend.

Trade-in to Trade-upThe Recommerce Trend will need to,

Trade-in to Trade-up

Trade-in to Trade-up

Trade-in to Trade-up

Trade-in to Trade-up

• The application for kids would be incorporating fun and social play as much as consolidating reading.

Trade-in to Trade-up

• Not functional furniture but equally expressive decorative elements can be incorporated as well

Trade-in to Trade-up

NEW MEDIUMTrend forecast #4

Genesis

• Importance of typographers and how it evolved

Character• The characters

embody the personality of the typeface, making it more human

Will Bradley - Calson O.S“ Set type carefully, for it has live and a character of its own”

Count Harry Kessler - Gill Sans Serif, Perpetua“Use a particular typeface, not to read but to respect”

Quotes

CREATORS USERS PUBLISHERS

TYPOGRAPHERS AUTHORS B&N

We propose that the company leverages its experience by inculcating the typefaces into a lifestyle element.

The company initiates a “Typeline” which would Barnes and noble will hold an event for its 100 years anniversary in 2017. The typographers will fabricate their creations on to materials which would then form a accessory/ fashion line.

The SCARVES, BOW TIES AND BAGS will be available in most of the Barnes & Noble stores

Type foundries

Fabrics

Screen printers

Fashiondesigners

Investors

B&NStores

Online

Amazonand eBay

NOOK

Resources

Distribution

THANK YOU!

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