Encore Books was a regional chain of bookstores based in the eastern United States until its closure in 1999.
Founding
Encore Books was started by David Schlessinger, who went on to found the
Zany Brainy and
Five Below retail chains. It enjoyed a prosperous early life and was sold to the
Rite Aid Corporation, which later spun the company off.
Troubles
By the time of its closure, the 50 Encore Books locations were owned by Lauriat's, a 127-year-old company based in
Canton, Massachusetts
Canton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,370 at the 2020 census. Canton is part of Greater Boston, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of downtown Boston.
Hist ...
. Problems were legion in the company's final years. A leveraged buyout, rapid expansion, and difficulty working with publishers due to competition from
Borders and
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...
had forced the company into bankruptcy. Lauriat's had already gone through a round of store closings by the time the closure of the entire chain was announced. In 1999, the company closed the 71 stores that operated under the Lauriat's, Book Corner and Encore names.
Stores
Most Encore Books locations were small operations, similar to the
B. Dalton
B. Dalton Bookseller (often called B. Dalton or B. Dalton's) was an American retail bookstore chain founded in 1966 by Bruce Dayton, a member of the same family that operated the Dayton's department store chain. B. Dalton expanded to become the ...
and
Waldenbooks stores popular in the 1970s and 1980s. However, the company operated two large stores, dubbed Encore Books and Music—complete with a music section, plush chairs, and a coffee shop—in Princeton, New Jersey, and Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Its two other largest stores operated in State College, Pennsylvania, and Middletown, New York. It operated a smaller, but very successful store on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
References
* Minzesheimer, Bob, "Even small chains are swallowed in battle of the bookstore giants," ''USA Today'', August 12, 1999.
* Rulison, Larry, "Cohn closes on fund for Five Below chain," ''Philadelphia Business Journal'', October 10, 2003.
* http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2003/10/13/newscolumn1.html
* "Lauriat's bookstore chain to close, liquidate inventory," The Associated Press, June 11, 1999.
Defunct retail companies of the United States
Retail companies disestablished in 1999
Bookstores in Massachusetts
Defunct companies based in Massachusetts