The Barnes family’s history in the book business started in 1873, when Charles Montgomery Barnes went into the secondhand book business in Wheaton, Illinois. 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. In 1902 C.M. Barnes’s son, William R. Barnes, became president of the firm, and he continued the business in partnership with several other men.
The younger Barnes sold his interest in his father’s company in 1917, when he moved to New York. In New York, he acquired an interest in the educational bookstore Noble & Noble, partnering with G. Clifford Noble. The bookstore was soon renamed Barnes & Noble. Though Mr. Noble withdrew from the business in 1929, the name Barnes & Noble stuck.
The company’s early business was wholesaling, selling mainly to schools, colleges, libraries, and dealers. Barnes & Noble entered the retail textbook trade somewhat reluctantly.
Resource : Michael Russo Hoboken
The younger Barnes sold his interest in his father’s company in 1917, when he moved to New York. In New York, he acquired an interest in the educational bookstore Noble & Noble, partnering with G. Clifford Noble. The bookstore was soon renamed Barnes & Noble. Though Mr. Noble withdrew from the business in 1929, the name Barnes & Noble stuck.
The company’s early business was wholesaling, selling mainly to schools, colleges, libraries, and dealers. Barnes & Noble entered the retail textbook trade somewhat reluctantly.
Resource : Michael Russo Hoboken
