33 Facts About Waterstones

Waterstones, is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and other nearby countries.

An average-sized Waterstones shop sells a range of approximately 30,000 individual books, as well as stationery and other related products.

In 1998, Waterstones was bought by a consortium of Waterstone, EMI and Advent International.

Waterstones was taken under the umbrella of HMV Group, which later merged the Dillons and Ottakar's brands into the company.

Waterstones used literary authors in front of shop displays and employed highly literate staff.

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Under WHSmith, Waterstones pursued international expansion, opening its first US shop in Boston in 1991, as well as further domestic expansion – opening its 100th UK shop in a former chapel in Reading.

Waterstones launched the Waterstones Books Quarterly magazine in 2001, containing book reviews and author interviews.

In 2003, Waterstones announced it was supporting Dyslexia Action as its chosen charity, helping to raise awareness and understanding for dyslexia.

Waterstones piloted a brand refresh exercise in selected shops, beginning with Manchester's Arndale Centre in 2007.

In September 2008, Waterstones began selling the Sony Reader in an agreement which saw the booksellers' branches and Sony Centre shops stock the reader exclusively for two weeks after its release.

Waterstones was replaced by development director Dominic Myers, who was managing director of the British academic bookselling chain Blackwells until 2005.

Waterstones moved to support the Rainbow Trust, which provides support to children with life-threatening and terminal illnesses and their families, in the same year.

On 29 June 2011, the sale of Waterstones was completed and approved by the vast majority of shareholders at an emergency general meeting.

James Daunt launched the new agreement with Amazon stating that Waterstones would be offering "e-reading services and offer Kindle digital devices" throughout the company's branches and on its website, with an intention to "make the Kindle experience better".

Waterstones embarked on a major restructuring of staffing levels, with a company-wide consultation with 560 managerial staff to subsequently reduce roles within the company.

Waterstones launched a number of new partnerships through the year, including with the University of Derby to launch a professional qualification programme for its staff, with the Folio Society to extend customer reach and stock selection in London-based bookshops, and partnering with a new charity, BookTrust.

In 2014, the opened new shops in Ringwood, Blackburn and Southwold, its first branch to be without Waterstones branding, as well as closing shops in Eastleigh and St Neots.

Waterstones later noted that sales had remained 'buoyant' following the decision to leave the EU, but remained pessimistic for the future.

Waterstones announced it had raised £300,000 for BookTrust in 3 years since partnering, and would continue the partnership for a fourth year.

In 2021, an article in The Bookseller reported that Waterstones were planning a collaboration with Next to have Waterstones within some Next stores.

In 2022, Waterstones purchased Blackwell's, the largest independent bookstore in the UK, for an undisclosed sum.

On 31 May 2006, Waterstones announced that it had successfully negotiated the takeover of Ottakar's.

In September 2018, Waterstones confirmed it would buy 115-year-old Foyles, with seven stores whilst retaining the brand.

Waterstones opened its first non-branded shop in Southwold, Suffolk in July 2014 called Southwold Books.

Waterstones decided not to use its branding as it wished to 'fit in' with the town's high proportion of independent retailers, but this move drew anger from local residents at the time as they viewed the move as "dishonest" and said that local shop rents were being increased because of retail chains moving in and this subsequently was "changing the character of the high street".

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Non-branded Waterstones became an issue again in 2016 at a national level, following newspaper reports about not only Southwold Books but two further shops, The Rye Bookshop in Sussex and Harpenden Books in Hertfordshire, being opened and local residents not realising the connection with the retailer.

Waterstones further stated that more unbranded shops were likely to open in the future.

Waterstones has worked with the British Safety Council to consider its environmental impact, including factors beyond its carbon footprint.

Waterstones said that only Ikea, Majestic and Lush of other similar large retailers pay the "real living wage".

Waterstones continued the Ottakar's Children's Book Prize under its own brand and since 2005, the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize has attempted "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" by awarding authors with no more than two previously published books.

Waterstones is the main sponsor of The Waterstones Children's Laureate, previously sponsored by Ottakar's.

Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, established in 2022, is an annual literary award presented to the best debut fiction published in the previous 12 months.

Waterstones has academic and high street shops in Europe including the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and in the Netherlands and Belgium.