Barnes and Noble Mission and Vision Statements- Analysis

Introduction

Barnes and Noble started as a bookstore called Arthur Hind and company in 1886. Gilbert Clifford Noble, a Harvard Graduate, was working as a clerk for the company in 1894. In 1886, Noble became a partner of the bookstore. In 1917, they entered a partnership with William Barnes, who changed the name of the bookstore into Barnes and Noble. Here, let’s know about Barnes and Noble Mission and Vision Statements.

Barnes and Noble are one of the largest retail stores in America. Barnes and Noble are one of the few U.S. businesses with excellent treatment of their LGBTQ employees. They are also one of the largest online booksellers in America, delivering over 1 million e-books per year. Barnes and Noble have also extended their business services in the Food sector, B&N Kitchen and café, and Toys and Games store.

Mission Statement

• The company’s official mission statement is to be one of the best retail businesses in America, where they can help their customers and booksellers reach their aspirations, all the while serving their communities with the best of their abilities. 
• The customers can buy over 1 million titles through their website, Barnes and Noble’s online search engine, within a few seconds. The website provides space for reviews, sample read for the purchased books. A special collection of Rare &Collectible Books; the signed first editions of classics and out of print books.
• They have exclusive bargain bookstores, audiobooks, B&N studio with video author interviews, documentaries. Children’s bookstores, Toys and games for kids, Stationery stores for both kids and adults, DVD and Blue Ray stores for movie lovers, audio samples, video interviews of their favorite artists and authors. They also offer free shipping services to their customers worldwide.
• Barnes and Noble’s publishing company reissues out of print books at a very lower price. They have published a compilation of various classics, Barnes and Noble Classics, leather-bound version of Barnes and Noble collectible classics, paperback series–Barnes & Noble Library of essential reading. The company also owns the educational website Spark Notes and the publishing company Sterling Publishing.
• Barnes and Noble’s online magazine, The Barnes & Noble Review, publishes fiction and non-fiction reviews, political interviews, and other literary analysis pieces. Adam Kirsch, Michael Dirda, Brooke Allen, Laura Miller. Some of the literary critics who work for the magazine are; political journalists Chris Hayes, Ezra Klein, the cartoonist Ward Sutton are some of the other regular contributors of the magazine.
• Barnes and Noble’s casual dining restaurant, Barnes and Noble Kitchen, is a casual dining restaurant in Folsom, California. The restaurant offers excellent quality local food, premium wines, craft beer, freshly baked cakes, and gourmet coffee. The restaurant has a calm and vibrant café atmosphere.

VISION STATEMENT AND VALUES

Barnes and Noble core values 

1. To provide excellent customer service.
2. Have Empathy, Respect for its employees, customers.
3. Maintaining the integrity of the company through these core values and sustaining the quality of their services.
4. Professionalism and Teamwork, Responsibility.

The company has proved its worth, also while maintaining this standard and values and has survived the business world through adapting these values to the changing times. Their policy regarding inclusivity and technology proves how well they have adapted these values to changing times. Their customer service is impeccable and online reviews prove this true. 

Community services

• Barnes and Noble deeply involved themselves in various community outreach programs. From 2015 to 2018, they conducted a book fair fundraiser and holiday gift-wrapping and collected over 80000 for their community in Fair Banks, Alaska. 

•  The company organizes an educator program, Barnes and Noble Educator program free for K-12 educators every year. They offer 20% off for all classroom, stationery purchases, and 25% off on Educator appreciation days.

• Barnes and Nobles are one of the major companies in the United States to achieve a perfect score on their Corporate Equality Index. Corporate Equality index is a score received based on the survey conducted by the human rights campaign foundation; they conduct surveys on practices and policies related to LGBT customers and employees.

• The company has also pioneered the concept of hosting community events in its retail stores. Every year, they conduct over 10,000 community events all across the nation.

• Barnes and Noble work with over 50,000 publishers, including small presses, university presses. Every year, they review over 0.1 million submissions from small publishers and large publishers. Barnes and Nobles publish and sell books at a lower price as compared to the competitors.

• During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Barnes and Noble enhanced their safety guidelines to ensure safety for its staff and customers through services such as curbside pickup, in-store pickup, and online delivery.
• They conducted enhanced cleaning throughout the day and maintained strict social distancing in their retail stores through temperature checks, a social distancing between customers and booksellers, maintaining limited storage capacity.
• In 2021, Barnes and Noble conducted their annual events – meeting authors, storytime events virtually through their social media sites. The company strictly followed guidelines in the Distribution centers, reduced staffing, conducted temperature checks and monitored all the employees, and encouraged them to stay home if they were sick.

Conclusion

The company owns over 600 Barnes and Noble bookstores in 50 states. They also have a commercial e-website, BN.com. As of 2019, an American investment management company called the Elliot management corporation owns Barnes and Noble for $683 million. James Daunt, the managing director of Waterstones Booksellers Ltd, is the CEO of the company. The values Barnes and Noble have embodied in their work culture. The ethics they follow have been instrumental in their success since 1886 to this technological era. Their progressive business model ensures it will continue for a long time. 

Frequently asked questions

• Why are the online prices for the books sold for less price compared to physical stores?

Online bookselling is competitive. Offering discounted prices more in online stores, they want to keep customers purchasing more through online stores. Through offline stores, they offer other discounts, offers, and first editions, etc. Overall, trying to satisfy their regular customers as much as possible by keeping the business within the family.

• Do they offer lower prices for published books from new authors?

Barnes and Noble’s The Discover Great New Writers Award is an annual award presented for new authors. The publisher only selects the nominees for various categories, fiction& non-fiction list.

The award has a selected from a big nominee list, which is shortlisted to final nominee list to one winner. There is also a 20% discount on these selected books.

• What are the benefits of subscribing to the Barnes and Noble members’ program? 

If the customers have subscribed for the membership. They get exclusive offers in all stores. They get a 40% additional discount for hardcovers and non-fiction books. The members have free shipping for all their orders. There is a 10% discount for every purchase in all stores. They get new offers notified, special holiday offers notified through email. Visit the website at:

 http://www.bn.com/membership