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. 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.

History

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 £300m 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.

Gerry Johnson was appointed managing director of Waterstone's in September 2005. 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. 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" 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." The legal requirement for a 90-day consultation period began in January 2009.

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."

Waterstone's was the first bookseller in the UK to begin selling the Sony Reader in September 2008. 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 format.

Awards

Waterstone'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. 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.

In 2008 the company "was lauded for the success of its loyalty card, Writer's Year promotion, online growth and its Get Selling bookseller training." at the Bookseller Retail Awards. At the British Book Industry Awards it won:
High Street Retailer of the Year and the
Nielsen Book Marketing Campaign of the Year.

Takeovers

In 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."

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."

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.

Increasing its presence within London, Waterstone's took over eight Books etc stores from Borders UK in August 2008. The stores in Fleet Street, London Wall, Holborn, Wandsworth, Uxbridge, Finchley and Canary Wharf were rebranded and merged into the Waterstone's chain.

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 Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

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:

Their mission statement says:
Waterstone's mission is to be the leading Bookseller on the High Street and online providing customers the widest choice, great value and expert advice from a team passionate about Bookselling. Waterstone's aims to interest and excite its customers and continually inspire people to read and engage in books.