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Joe Muggs

Books-A-Million Inc.
Private company
Industry Retail
Entertainment
Founded 1917; 100 years ago (1917) in Florence, Alabama
Founder Clyde W. Anderson
Headquarters Birmingham, Alabama
Number of locations
260
Key people
Clyde B. Anderson, Chairman
Terrance G. Finley, CEO and President
R. Todd Noden, CFO
Revenue IncreaseUS$474.084 million (2014)
IncreaseUS$4.619 million (2014)
IncreaseUS$2.908 million (2014)
Total assets DecreaseUS$294.251 million (2014)
Total equity IncreaseUS$113.264 million (2014)
Number of employees
5,400 (2014)
Website www.booksamillion.com

Books-A-Million, Inc., also known as BAM!, owns and operates the second largest bookstore chain in the United States, operating 260 stores in 32 states. Stores range in size from 4,000 to 30,000 square feet and sell books, magazines, collectibles, toys, technology, and gifts. Most Books-A-Million stores feature "Joe Muggs" cafés - a coffee and espresso bar.

Stores operate under the names Books-A-Million, Bookland, Books & Company, and 2nd & Charles.

The company owns Yogurt Mountain Holding, a frozen yogurt retailer and franchisor with 40 locations. The company also owns Preferred Growth Properties, which develops and manages commercial real estate investments.

The company also owns and operates American Wholesale Book Company (AWBC), an e-commerce division operating as booksamillion.com, and an internet development and services company, NetCentral, in Nashville, Tennessee.

In December 2015, the company was acquired by its chairman, Clyde B. Anderson, and his family, for $21 million.

Books-A-Million was founded in 1917 in Florence, Alabama as a newsstand by 14-year old Clyde B. Anderson, who dropped out of school to support his family after his father died. Anderson saw a business opportunity after workers on the nearby Wilson Dam complained that they could not get their hometown newspapers.

In 1950, Charles C. Anderson, the founder's son, inherited the store and expanded it into a chain. The company incorporated as Bookland in 1964.

By 1980, the company had 50 stores.

In 1988, Bookland acquired the Gateway Books retail chain based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The same year, the company opened its first superstore format store.

In 1992, the company changed its name to Books-A-Million, Inc. and became a public company via an initial public offering of 2.6 million shares at a price of $13 per share.

In 1998, the company launched its website, booksamillion.com.

On November 25, 1998, during the dot com bubble, the stock price soared from $3 per share to $38.94 on November 27, 1998 and an intra-day high of $47.00 on November 30, 1998 after the company announced an updated website. Two weeks later, the share price was back down to $10. By 2000, the share price had returned to $3. Those days included suspenseful times for day traders, such as when the stock moved up 6 points in 13 minutes. During this time, insiders sold hundreds of thousands of shares.


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