Bookstop (company)
| File:BookstopTexaslogo.png | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Founded | Travis County, Texas (1982) |
| Founder | Gary Hoover and Steve Mathews |
| Successor | Barnes & Noble |
| Headquarters | Travis County, Texas |
Number of locations | (1989): 22 |
Key people | Patrick Spain |
| Revenue | (1989): $65 million |
Bookstop Inc. was a bookstore chain headquartered in Texas, recognized as the fourth-largest bookselling chain across the United States at its peak.[1] The company was purchased by Barnes & Noble in 1989, subsequently operating as a subsidiary under the Barnes & Noble umbrella.[2] In certain states where trademark issues arose, the chain conducted business under the alternative name Bookstar.
Business model
Laura J. Miller, author of Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption, characterized the chain as merging discount pricing with an extensive inventory, meticulous product presentation, and advanced information technology to attract well-educated and affluent clientele.[3] Jason Epstein, author of Book Business: Publishing Past, Present, and Future, noted that Bookstop’s concept was inspired by supermarket retail strategies.[4] Miller further explained that the store design was intentionally modeled after the layout of Toys "R" Us outlets.[3] Laura Elder from the Houston Business Journal remarked that Bookstop was an innovator in introducing the superstore retail format.[5] Gary Hoover himself described their approach as adopting Toys R Us’s retail philosophy—large specialty stores offering expansive selections at affordable prices—and applying it to book retailing.[6]
Bookstop evaluated a title’s sales performance over a period of approximately 130 days after introduction to determine its continued availability in stores. Titles regarded as authoritative references in their subject areas could remain stocked despite lower sales figures.[7]
History
Bookstop was launched in 1982 by entrepreneurs Gary Hoover and Steve Mathews. Patrick Spain, a university acquaintance of Hoover, contributed some of the initial funding for the enterprise. The company's main office was located in an unincorporated area of Travis County, Texas, within the Greater Austin region, using an Austin mailing address. By 1989, Bookstop operated 22 locations across Texas, California, Florida, and Louisiana, generating approximately $65 million in yearly revenue. The superstore concept was notably advanced by Bookstop through the transformation of many former downtown theaters into expansive bookstore venues.
Barnes & Noble acquisition
In 1989, the Bookstop board requested Hoover to resign from his leadership role. That same year, Hoover and a group of venture capitalists sold the company to Barnes & Noble for $41.5 million. This acquisition followed an extended competition with Crown Books, as both companies had acquired substantial stakes in Bookstop aiming to take control. Once Barnes & Noble completed the purchase, Crown Books divested its ownership share.
According to Solveig Robinson, author of The Book in Society: An Introduction to Print Culture, this acquisition equipped Barnes & Noble with the expertise and infrastructure necessary to develop what became the quintessential bookselling superstore by 1992. Additionally, Miller described Bookstop as a crucial element in Barnes & Noble's early expansion into superstore formats.
Following the purchase, stores operating under the Bookstop name remained open while Barnes & Noble assumed ownership. In 1997, Barnes & Noble converted the New York Bookstop location into a B&N-branded store, marking the beginning of phasing out the Bookstop brand. Later, in August 2009, the Bookstop situated in Houston’s Alabama Theater—originally opened in 1984—was also rebranded as a Barnes & Noble store.
See also
- Hoover's – A separate enterprise also initiated by Gary Hoover
References
Notes
- ↑ "Hoover Joins McCombs School as Entrepreneur-in-Residence Archived 2014-10-13 at the Wayback Machine" (Archive). University of Texas at Austin. September 9, 2009. Retrieved on April 7, 2014. "In 1982, Hoover founded Austin-based Bookstop, which grew to be the fourth largest bookstore chain in the nation before being acquired by Barnes & Noble in 1989."
- ↑ Long, Elizabeth. Book Clubs: Women and the Uses of Reading in Everyday Life. University of Chicago Press, August 1, 2003. ISBN 0226492621, 9780226492629. p. 76. "Now Bookstop (a Texas-based division of Barnes & Noble),[...]"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Miller, Laura. Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. University of Chicago Press, September 15, 2008. ISBN 0226525929, 9780226525921. p. 50.
- ↑ Epstein, Jason. Book Business: Publishing Past, Present, and Future. W. W. Norton & Company, January 17, 2002. ISBN 0393322343, 9780393322347. p. 160.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedElderself - ↑ Hoover, Gary. "Two key skills for entrepreneurial thinkers, leaders to have." Austin Business Journal. September 14, 2012. p. 2. Retrieved on April 7, 2014.
- ↑ Bucholz, p. 157. "Books that don't do well within their first 130 days are kept on Bookstop's shelves if they are the definitive book on a subject. The chain measures the rate of return.[...]"
Sources
- Bucholz, Barbara B. and Margaret Cran. "Bookstop, Austin, TX." Featured in Bucholz, Barbara B. Corporate Bloodlines: The Future of the Family Firm (A Lyle Stuart publication). Carol Publishing Group, 1989. ISBN 0818405074, 9780818405075. pp. 145-159 – This work contains a dedicated section on Bookstop
External links
- Hoover's World – Official site of founder Gary Hoover