Corporate Office HQ

Barnes and Noble Corporate Office

Barnes and Noble

Barnes and Noble traces its beginning back to 1886 when the Arthur Hinds & Company bookstore was opened in the Cooper Union building in New York City. Shortly after opening, Gilbert Clifford Noble was hired as a clerk.

In 1894, Noble was made a partner and the name Hinds & Noble was adopted. In 1917, Noble bought out Hinds and partnered with William Barnes to form Barnes & Noble.

History

In 1930, Noble sold his shares in the company to John Barnes. Noble died in 1936.

In 1969, John Barnes died and the company was sold to Amtel.

In 1971, the company was purchased by current Chairman Leonard Riggio III.

Today, Barnes and Noble operates 689 stores in all 50 states. In addition, they own 667 college bookstores. The company is the largest retail bookseller in the US.

In 2012, the company had annual revenue of $7 billion but has fallen on hard times, with revenue in 2017 only $3.7 billion. Rumors have swirled that the company might be looking at bankruptcy, however, in October 2018, current chairman Leonardo Riggio stated that he might purchase the publicly traded company.

Company headquarters are located in New York, New York and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BKN

SodaStream Corporate Office

SodaStream

The SodaStream can trace its roots back to 1903 when Guy Hugh Gilbey, a London gin distiller created a machine for aerating liquids. The machine was sold to upper class families.

In the 1920s, flavored beverages such as sarsaparilla were introduced.

In 1955, the first machine designed for use in the home was introduced.

History

The 1970s and 80s saw the machine’s popularity rise in the UK. Their slogan “get busy with the fizzy” became a huge success.

In 1985, the company became a subsidiary of Cadbury Schweppes.

In 1998, the company was purchased by Israel based Soda-Club.

In 2010, the company went public under stock symbol SODA.

Today, SodaStream sells their home carbonation machines worldwide. Europe accounts for over 50% of their sales but a recent partnership with WalMart has boosted US sales numbers.

The SodaStream can trace its roots back to 1903 when Guy Hugh Gilbey, a London gin distiller created a machine for aerating liquids. The machine was sold to upper class families. In the 1920s, flavored beverages such as sarsaparilla were … [Continue reading] about SodaStream Corporate Office

Meijer Corporate Office

Meijer

Meijer was founded in 1934 in Greenville, Michigan, by Hendrik Meijer, a Dutch immigrant. Originally a barber, Meijer decided to try the grocery business during the Great Depression. The first employee was Hendrik’s 14-year-old son Frederik (Fred) Meijer. Additional locations were opened in Ionia and Cedar Springs.

By the 1960s, there were two dozen locations in Western Michigan.

History

In 1962, the first modern layout “supercenter” design was opened in Grand Rapids. Fred Meijer took over the business when his father passed away in 1964.

Under increased competition from Wal-Mart, Meijer has had to lay off a significant number of employees in recent years. They have also outsourced almost all their Information Technology positions to India.

In 2011, long time CEO Fred Meijer passed away at the age of 91. In November of that same year, the company opened up their 200th supercenter in Swartz Creek, Michigan.

In 2013, the company ranked No. 19 in Forbes list of top 20 Private Companies.

In 2017, Meijer expanded into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, with stores in Escanaba and Sault. Saint Marie, with a third location opening in the near future in Marquette.

Almost all Meijer locations are open 24/7/364, closing only at 7 PM on Christmas Eve and reopening at 6 AM on December 26th.

In December 2019, Michigan Meijer’s locations are setting up SOS payment kiosks for vehicle registration.

In May 2022, some Meijer customers found that their debit or credit cards were charged multiple times over several days for a single purchase. Meijer claims the problem lies in their processing company.

Today, Meijer is one of America’s largest private companies. They operate more than 200 stores in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Kentucky. In 2016, the company had annual revenue of $16.6 billion.

Meijer was founded in 1934 in Greenville, Michigan, by Hendrik Meijer, a Dutch immigrant. Originally a barber, Meijer decided to try the grocery business during the Great Depression. The first employee was Hendrik's 14-year-old son Frederik (Fred) … [Continue reading] about Meijer Corporate Office

Amazon Corporate Office

Amazon

Jeff Bezos was working for D.E. Shaw and Company, a prestigious Wall Street Firm, when he decided that he didn’t want to have regrets later on for not trying his hand at the booming internet business of online sales. He quit his job and moved to Bellevue, Washingon, to start his original business idea in 1994. The original company was called Cadabra, which Bezos later changed to Amazon.

The company was run out of Bezos’ Bellevue, Washington garage and was an online bookstore. Within two months, sales were over $20,000 per week. The original business plan was working under the assumption that the business would not make a profit for 2 to 5 years. Amazon survived the dot.com crash of 2000 and turned a profit for the first time in 2001.

History

In 1996, the company reincorporated in Delaware and by 1997 had its IPO. The company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol AMZN.

The company completed many acquisitions in the late 90s including PlanetAll, IMDB, Alexa, CD Now and Joyo.com

In 1999, Bezos was named Time Magazine’s man of the year.

By 2011, the company had 30,000 full-time employees. By 2016, that number had climbed to 180,000 in the US alone. Worldwide, the company employs approximately 307,000 persons.

Amazon began selling in Mexico in 2013. Although the idea is the same, prices and products are different than the US-based site.

In recent years, the company has grown rapidly with the release of the Kindle, Kindle Fire and other tablet and e-reader devices.

In 2017, the company acquired Whole Foods.

In late 2017, the company announced that it was going to make a second headquarters, called HQ2. Cities with more than 1 million inhabitants needed to make their presentations before October of 2017 as to why they should be chosen. The estimated $5 billion dollar headquarters would need to employ another 50,000 person minimum. No date has been set as to when the chosen city will be officially announced, although Amazon did say that out of 238 candidates, they have narrowed it down to 20 top picks.

In June of 2017, Nike announced a partnership with Amazon and stated they should be selling their products at exclusive prices in 2018.

Amazon owns over 40 subsidiaries, including Zappos, Shopbop, Diapers.com, Kiva Systems (now Amazon Robotics), Audible, Goodreads, Teachstreet, and IMDb.

Amazon reported that they expected to reach $10 billion in sales by the end of 2018, this just after reaching 1 billion in sales in 2015.

The company was slammed for selling infant clothing that featured phrases that encouraged pedophilia. Amazon has since removed these items.

These sales numbers, especially since Amazon began offering business to business sales, has some companies, like Grainger, worried.

Scammers are attempting to call Amazon Prime members and extract information from them in December 2020.

Amazon.com is the world’s largest online retailer offering everything from groceries to used items, books to musical instruments.

Jeff Bezos was working for D.E. Shaw and Company, a prestigious Wall Street Firm, when he decided that he didn't want to have regrets later on for not trying his hand at the booming internet business of online sales. He quit his job and moved to … [Continue reading] about Amazon Corporate Office

Boeing Corporate Office

Boeing

Boeing was founded in 1916 in Seattle, Washington by William E. Boeing as the Pacific Aero Products Company. The company originally produced seaplanes from wood.

In 1917, the company was renamed to the Boeing Airplane Company. Boeing shipped 2 planes to the US Navy that same year and they ordered 50 more.

In 1919, the Boeing B-1 made its maiden flight. The plane was designed to carry mail.

History

In the 1930’s, the company began making its airplanes from metal. In 1937, Boeing designed the first pressurized cabin transport airplane.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Boeing began heavy production of airplanes for the military, including B-47 and B-52 bombers.

Today, Boeing is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company has several distinct divisions: Commercial, Defense & Space and Engineering & Ops. They also run a finance division called Boeing Capital.

Boeing was founded in 1916 in Seattle, Washington by William E. Boeing as the Pacific Aero Products Company. The company originally produced seaplanes from wood. In 1917, the company was renamed to the Boeing Airplane Company. Boeing shipped 2 … [Continue reading] about Boeing Corporate Office