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"Waterstones" redirects here. For Sharpening by stone, see Sharpening stone.
Waterstone's is a British book specialist established in 1982 by Tim Waterstone that now employs around 4,500 staff throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.[1] Waterstone's has since acquired the Ottakars and Dillons bookshops after itself becoming a subsidiary of the HMV Group in 1998. As well as the Waterstone's brand, the HMV Group owns the London bookseller Hatchards, founded in 1797 and Irish store Hodges Figgis. Since 2003, Waterstone's has supported Dyslexia Action UK as its chosen charity to raise awareness and understanding of dyslexia.[2]
[edit] MissionAs stated on the Waterstone's website:
[edit] History and developments The chain was founded by Tim Waterstone after he was sacked by W H Smith. In 1989, W H Smith took a share in the chain, and Tim Waterstone sold out to them in 1993. In 1998, Smiths sold the chain for £300(along with private equity firm Advent International) to HMV Media (now HMV Group plc), a new venture in which EMI was a major shareholder and which already owned the rival Dillons chain. In 1999 the majority of Dillons stores were rebranded as Waterstone's with some sold to rival Ottakar's. In 2006, Tim Waterstone attempted to buy back his business from HMV, but later withdrew his offer.[3] Gerry Johnson was appointed managing director of Waterstone's in September 2005.[4] He has overseen some crucial developments in the company, such as the relaunch of the chain's internet operations and a restructuring of its supply chain. Waterstone's online operations were franchised to Amazon.com in 2001. However, in September 2006 it independently relaunched its internet retail site, Waterstones.com.[3] From September 2008 a new 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m2) warehouse and distribution centre in Burton-Upon-Trent began to supply all Waterstone's stores and Waterstones.com orders. Existing direct-to-store deliveries from suppliers are replaced by the centralized "Book Hub" - which "receive merchandise and sort by section an estimated 70 million books per year, and deliver them directly to store"[5] in addition to dealing with book returns, with an on-site pulping system. The system will be phased in from 2009, resulting in redundancies of goods-in and returns staff, despite initial comments that the hub would allow these staff "more time on the shop floor serving customers."[6] The legal requirement for a 90-day consultation period began in January 2009.[7] The Waterstone's Books Quarterly magazine was launched in 2001, available throughout Waterstone's branches and in 2006, the chain began to pilot a loyalty programme in South West England and Wales. As a result, the scheme was expanded nationally, to its stores across the United Kingdom as well as those in Europe and Ireland. In 2007, Waterstone's commissioned a redesign of its stores to be piloted across the country, beginning with its store in Manchester's Arndale Centre. The chain intends "to attract more footfall and provide a more compelling brand experience to their customers."[8] Waterstone's was the first bookseller in the UK to begin selling the Sony Reader in September 2008.[9] An agreement saw Waterstone's branches and Sony Centre stores stock the eBook reader exclusively for two weeks after its release, as Waterstones.com began to supply books in the recommended eBook (.epub) format. [edit] Retail awardsWaterstone's has been awarded for its retail achievements and the expertise of its staff. At the beginning of 2008, Waterstones.com was awarded a silver badge for the Best Books Website category at the BT Online Excellence Awards.[10] In a survey of 96 British chains in January 2009, Waterstone's scored 69% for a Which? customer satisfaction survey on "products, price, staff and shopping environment and whether they would recommend the shop to a friend" - placing the chain in joint eight position.[11] [edit] British Book Industry AwardsIn 2008 the company "was lauded for the success of its loyalty card, Writer's Year promotion, online growth and its Get Selling bookseller training."[12] at the Bookseller Retail Awards. [edit] Ottakar's takeoverIn September 2005 Waterstone's parent company HMV Group attempted to buy rival book chain Ottakar's. This alarmed publishers and authors who hoped the Office of Fair Trading would refer the takeover bid to the Competition Commission. They did so on 6 December 2005. On March 30, 2006 the Competition Commission provisionally cleared Waterstone's for takeover of the Ottakar's group stating the takeover would "not result in a substantial lessening of competition", and is "not likely to affect book prices, range of titles offered or quality of service." Through extensive research they also found that "contrary to widespread perception, Waterstone's, like Ottakar's, operates a book-buying system which mixes central and local input on stock selection." [13][14] On May 31, 2006, Waterstone's announced that it had successfully negotiated the takeover of Ottakar's. HMV chief executive Alan Giles said: "A combined Waterstone's and Ottakar's business will create an exciting, quality bookseller, able to respond better to the increasingly competitive pressures of the retail market." Ottakar's chairman Philip Dunne said: "Over the last year the book market has undergone a significant change with new levels of competition from the supermarkets and online retailers impacting all specialist booksellers and in particular those with insufficient scale to compete on equal terms." [15] Following the takeover, HMV announced that they would be rebranding every branch of Ottakar's as a Waterstone's. In July 2006, a conversion programme was initiated and within four months, every Ottakar's store had been relaunched as a Waterstone's with the loss of 100 jobs. [16] [edit] Children's Book PrizeWaterstone's continues the Ottakar's Children's Book Prize under its own brand. Since 2005, the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize has attempted "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" by awarding authors with no more than two previously published books (adult or children's fiction).
Waterstone's is also the main sponsor of The Children's Laureate, previously sponsored by Ottakar's. [edit] Books etc takeoverIncreasing its presence within London, Waterstone's took over eight Books etc stores from Borders UK in August 2008.[17] The stores in Fleet Street, London Wall, Holborn, Wandsworth, Uxbridge, Finchley Road, and Canary Wharf were rebranded and merged into the Waterstone's chain. [edit] Locations  Waterstone's has around 303 academic and high street shops in Europe including the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland (including Dublin, Cork and Drogheda), and in the Netherlands and Belgium (including Amsterdam and Brussels). Its flagship London store is on Piccadilly while the main academic branch is on Gower Street, between University College London and the University of London Union. Waterstone's has acquired a reputation for its sympathetic re-use of buildings of architectural and historical interest. Some branches reusing these historical buildings include:
[edit] ControversiesIn November 2008, Waterstone's cancelled a book-signing event by poet Patrick Jones at its Cardiff store.[20] Christian Voice had described the book as "obscene and blasphemous" and commented "Just the knowledge that we were on our way has put the fear of God into the opposition."[20] Jones said he was not going to be "beaten down" by religious activists and signed copies for a small group of people in the street, arguing "There shouldn't be censorship of this sort."[20] Waterstone's said the event was cancelled "to avoid potential disruption to our store," saying that the safety of its booksellers was its main priority, and pointing out that the book remained on sale throughout its branches.[20] In October 2009, Waterstone's banned internet access to the trade magazine and its website, The Bookseller.com, from all stores. According to the store intranet, Gerry Johnson claimed this was due to the magazine not being needed to run "daily business activity" at the company and could be "misleading". [21] However, others have suggested that this was due to an article printed by The Bookseller which ran negative publicity on the performance of the the new "Book Hub" central distribution centre. [21] [edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
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