Books-A-Million was founded 1917 as a corner news stand in Florence Alabama by Clyde W. Anderson. It is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ exchange under the ...
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Books-A-Million was founded 1917 as a corner news stand in Florence Alabama by Clyde W. Anderson. It is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol BAMM. Books-A-Million is the third largest American bookstore chain, with its headquarters currently in Birmingham Alabama. The company currently operates over 200 stores located in 19 states in the South, Northeast and Midwest, and employs about 5,500 people. The company also operates stores branded as Books & Company, and Bookland stores which are book and greeting card stores. You will normally find Books-A-Million stores in shopping malls or lifestyle centers. Most of the Books-A=Million stores also feature Joe Muggs cafes. In the Birmingham area you can find Joe Muggs newsstands also.
Although the retail component is the company's primary focus, they also have a book wholesale and distribution subsidiary called American Wholesale Book Company (AWBC), an e-commerce division operating as booksamillion.com and an internet development and services company named NetCentral, which is located in Nashville Tennessee. The first Books-A-Million superstore opened in 1988, and now the stores range in size from 8,000 sq. ft. to 36,000 sq.ft., typically averaging over 20,000 sq.ft. per location. The goods sold in the stores are books, periodicals, gifts and of course Joe Muggs coffee, espresso, and food. Joe Muggs are coffeehouses located in the superstores starting in 2001.
Bookland, which is a traditional bookstore is less than 30% of the total number of retail outlets, These stores average 3,500-4,500 sq.ft. and are usually in malls. They carry a full line of books and magazines, and some have cards and gifts as well.
2nd and Charles is a division of Books-A-Million, and is a specialty company that deals in trading used books, audio books, CD's DVD's and video games as well as vinyl records. The stores has only 2 locations. The first is in Hoover Alabama and the second is on Augusta Georgia. Between the two stores, they employ about 50 people.
