Barnes and Noble 2006 Annual Report Download - page 9

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Barnes & Noble, Inc.’s (Barnes & Noble or the Company)
fi scal year is comprised of  or  weeks, ending on
the Saturday closest to the last day of January. As used
in this section, “fi scal ” represents the  weeks
ending February , , “fi scal ” represents the 
weeks ended February , , “fi scal ” represents
the  weeks ended January ,  and “fi scal ”
represents the  weeks ended January , .
GENERAL
The Company is the nation’s largest bookseller, and as
of February ,  operated  bookstores and a web-
site. Of the  bookstores,  operate primarily under
the Barnes & Noble Booksellers trade name ( of which
were opened in fi scal ) and  operate primarily
under the B. Dalton Bookseller trade name. Barnes &
Noble conducts the online part of its business through
barnesandnoble.com llc (Barnes & Noble.com), one
of the largest sellers of books on the Internet. Through
Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. (Sterling), the Company is
a leading general trade book publisher. Additionally, the
Company owns an approximate  interest in Calendar
Club L.L.C. (Calendar Club), an operator of seasonal
kiosks. The Company employed approximately ,
full- and part-time employees as of February , .
Barnes & Noble stores are located in all  states and
the District of Columbia as of February , . With
over  years of bookselling experience, management
has a strong sense of customers’ changing needs and the
Company leads book retailing with a “community store”
concept. Barnes & Noble’s typical store off ers a compre-
hensive title base, a café, a children’s section, a music
department, a magazine section and a calendar of ongoing
events, including author appearances and children’s
activities, that make each Barnes & Noble store an active
part of its community.
1 Based upon sales reported in trade publications and public fi lings.
Barnes & Noble stores range in size from , to
, square feet depending upon market size with
an overall average store size of , square feet.
Each store features an authoritative selection of books,
ranging from , to , unique titles. The
comprehensive title selection is diverse and tailored to
each store location to refl ect local interests. In addition,
Barnes & Noble emphasizes books published by small
and independent publishers and university presses.
Bestsellers (the “top ten” highest selling hardcover
fi ction, hardcover non-fi ction and trade paperback
titles) typically represent between  and  of Barnes
& Noble store sales. Complementing this extensive
in-store selection, all Barnes & Noble stores provide
customers with on-site access to the millions of books
available to online shoppers while off ering an option
to have the book sent to the store or shipped directly to
the customer through Barnes & Noble.com’s delivery
system. All Barnes & Noble stores are equipped with
its proprietary BookMaster in-store operating system,
which enhances the Company’s merchandise-replen-
ishment system, resulting in high in-stock positions
and productivity at the store level through effi ciencies
in receiving, cashiering and returns processing. The
Company has integrated the BookMaster system used in
its stores with Barnes & Noble.com so that its customers
share the same experience across both channels.
During fi scal , the Company added . million
square feet to the Barnes & Noble store base, bringing
the total square footage to . million square feet, a
 increase over the prior year. Barnes & Noble stores
contributed approximately  of the Company’s total
sales in fi scal . The Company plans to open between
 and  Barnes & Noble stores in fi scal , which
are expected to average , square feet in size.
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
2006 Annual Report 7