 | |
| Type of business | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
Type of site | E-commerce |
| Available in | English |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Dissolved | 26 April 2023 |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Industry | Bookselling, online shopping |
| Products | Books |
| Revenue | £69 million (2010) [1] |
| Employees | 150[ citation needed ] |
| Parent | Amazon (2011–2023) |
| URL | bookdepository |
| Launched | 2004 |
Book Depository (previously The Book Depository) was a United Kingdom-based online book seller. Founded by a former Amazon employee, it operated from 2004 to 2023.
The company was founded in 2004 by Andrew Crawford (former Amazon employee) and Stuart Felton. Its motto was to make "All Books Available to All" [2] by improving selection, access and affordability. [2]
It was acquired by Amazon on 4 July 2011. [3] [1] The move led commentators to worry about the 'strangle hold' of Amazon on the UK book market. [4]
On 5 April 2023, Amazon announced that it would be closing down Book Depository on 26 April 2023. [5]
The company had a large catalogue with a 'less of more' philosophy. [4] It offered free shipping to over 160 countries. [6]
In 2009 and 2010, it won Direct Bookselling Company of the Year at the Bookseller Industry Awards, [7] and the Queen's Award For Enterprise.[ citation needed ]
In 2012, Book Depository was a finalist for the Fast Growth Business Awards' Retail/Leisure Business of the Year award, and won two UK Startup Awards, Online Business of the Year and Retailer of the Year. [8]
In 2013, it was ranked 5th in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100. [9]
Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevue, Washington, the company originally started as an online marketplace for books but gradually expanded its offerings to include a wide range of product categories, referred to as "The Everything Store". Today, Amazon is considered one of the Big Five American technology companies, the other four being Alphabet, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across all 50 U.S. states.
W & G Foyle Ltd. is a bookseller with a chain of seven stores in England. It is best known for its flagship store in Charing Cross Road, London. Foyles was once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest bookshop in terms of shelf length, at 30 miles (48 km), and of the number of titles on display. It was bought by Waterstones in 2018.
Waterstones Booksellers Limited, trading as Waterstones, is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and also other nearby countries. As of February 2014, it employs around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe. An average-sized Waterstones shop sells a range of approximately 30,000 individual books, as well as stationery and other related products.
Blackwell UK, also known as Blackwell's and Blackwell Group, is a British academic book retailer and library supply service owned by Waterstones. It was founded in 1879 by Benjamin Henry Blackwell, after whom the chain is named, on Broad Street, Oxford. The brand now has a chain of 18 shops, and an accounts and library supply service. It employs around 1000 staff in its divisions.
Rakuten Group, Inc. is a Japanese technology conglomerate based in Tokyo, founded by Hiroshi Mikitani in 1997. Centered around the online retail marketplace Rakuten Ichiba, its businesses include financial services utilizing Fintech, digital content and communications services such as the messaging app Viber, e-book distributor Kobo, and Japan's fourth-most used mobile carrier, Rakuten Mobile. Rakuten has more than 28,000 employees worldwide, operating in 30 countries and regions, and its revenues totalling US $12.8 billion as of 2021. Rakuten was the official sponsor of the Spanish football club FC Barcelona from 2017 until 2022, and the Golden State Warriors of the NBA as of 2022. It is sometimes referred to as the "Amazon of Japan".
A used book or secondhand book is a book which has been owned before by an owner other than the publisher or retailer, usually by an individual or library.
An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned. Usually, independent stores consist of only a single actual store. They may be structured as sole proprietorships, closely held corporations or partnerships, cooperatives, or nonprofits. Independent stores can be contrasted with chain bookstores, which have many locations and are owned by corporations which often have divisions in other lines besides bookselling. Specialty stores such as comic book shops tend to be independent.
Inc. is an American business magazine founded in 1979 and based in New York City. The magazine publishes six issues per year, along with surrounding online and social media content. The magazine also produces several live and virtual events yearly.
AbeBooks is an e-commerce global online marketplace with seven websites that offer books, fine art, and collectables from sellers in over 50 countries. Launched in 1996, it specialises in used, rare and out-of-print books. AbeBooks has been a subsidiary of Amazon since 2008.
Dymocks Booksellers is an Australian-founded privately owned bookstore chain, that also specialise in CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, e-books and related merchandising. As of June 2022, the chain has about 50 stores in Australia.
Weltbild Publishing Group is a major German publisher and media retailer based in Augsburg. It is partner of the holding company DBH Deutsche Buch Handels GmbH & Co. KG and itself it is owned by the dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church of Germany. The name Weltbild roughly translates to "worldview".
Ching-He Huang (Chinese: 黃瀞億; pinyin: Huáng Jìngyì; Wade–Giles: Huang2 Ching4-i4;, often known in English-language merely as Ching, is a Taiwanese-born British food writer and TV chef. She has appeared in a variety of television cooking programmes, and is the author of nine best-selling cookbooks. Ching is recognized as a foodie entrepreneur, having created her own food businesses. She has become known for Chinese cookery internationally through her TV programmes, books, noodle range, tableware range, and involvement in many campaigns and causes.
Fascination Books was one of South Africa's largest book chains with branches throughout South Africa. After 13 years of considerable growth, owner and founder Johan Marais applied for liquidation in October 2008. The company was the largest independent book chain in the South Africa. It stocked a wide range of books, focussing on religious books, while also stocking a great variety of books in Afrikaans.
Edward Elgar Publishing is a global publisher of academic books, journals and online resources in the social sciences and law. The company also publishes a social science and law blog with regular contributions from leading scholars.
Andrew Crawford is an Irish entrepreneur and the founder and former CEO of The Book Depository. He was born in Zambia, of Irish heritage. Crawford was educated at Downside School and then The University of Liverpool studying engineering science and industrial management. After a brief spell working for his family firm, Crawford worked in the 1990s in security and specialist risk management working as a private security contractor throughout EMEA.
Metcalfe's Food Company was a privately owned food business founded in 2009 by Julian Metcalfe, the founder of the sandwich chain, Pret A Manger, and Robert Jakobi. Metcalfe's Food Company sold products under two brands Metcalfes Skinny and Itsu Grocery.
Amazon is an American multinational technology company which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, and digital streaming. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world", and is one of the world's most valuable brands.
Bookshop.org is an online book marketplace launched in January 2020. Its stated mission is "to financially support local, independent bookstores."
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