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| Type | subsidiary, Borders Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1933 |
| Headquarters | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Books, magazines, comic books, maps, calendars, gift cards |
| Website | http://www.waldenbooks.com/ |
Waldenbooks (often referred as Waldens), operated by the Walden Book Company, Inc., is an American shopping mall-based bookstore chain. The Walden Book Company is a subsidiary of Borders Group. Currently, there are 370 Waldenbooks stores in malls across the United States. They also ran a video game and software chain under the name Walden Software as well as a children's edutainment chain under Walden Kids.
History
On March 4, 1933, Lawrence Hoyt decided to open a rental library in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Within fifteen years it had grown to over 250 locations. In 1962 he decided to open a bookstore, and in 1981 it became the first bookstore to have stores in every state. For a time it was owned by the retail conglomerate Carter Hawley Hale. Over the past several decades Waldenbooks has earned itself a rather specialized niche in retail book selling by locating almost exclusively inside shopping malls, and are known for being a mall bookseller today.
In 1984, Waldenbooks was acquired by Kmart. That year it acquired the Brentano's chain. In 1994, Kmart sold its Waldenbooks and Borders which formed the Borders-Walden Group. In 1995 the renamed Borders Group was able to buy back its stock and it was listed independently on the New York Stock Exchange.[1]
Since 2004, many Waldenbooks locations have been re-branded as "Borders Express" stores. Borders Group has also announced that it is downsizing the Waldenbooks chain to respond to the current competitive environment.
References
- ^ Borders Group Media Relations. Borders Group Inc. Media Relations FAQs. Retrieved December 5, 2004.
External links
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