National Book Store

National Book Store

Type	Private
Industry	Retail
Founded	Manila, Philippines (1930s)
Headquarters	Manila, Philippines
Key people	Socorro Cancio-Ramos
Products	General Books Office Supplies
Website	nbsstores.com

National Book Store is the largest bookstore chain in the Philippines with 128 branches in the country.^[1] It was set to open its first overseas branch, in Hong Kong, in September 2007.

History

Through the hard work and leadership of Socorro Cancio-Ramos and the late Jose Ramos with their family, the company has evolved from a small stall into the most popular bookstore chain in the Philippines.

Before the Japanese occupation, the first National Book Store started as a stall shop in Escolta. It sold supplies, GI novels, and textbooks. When World War II broke out, strict book censorship forced them to shift their trade to soap, candies, and slippers. They bought their merchandise from wholesalers and peddled them to smaller retailers.

After the war, the whole Escolta area was burned to the ground. With all their stocks reduced to ashes, the couple was forced to rebuild. They were able to rebuild a barong-barong, in the corner of Soler and Avenida Rizal, in time to catch the post-war business boom. They went back to business by selling textbooks, notebooks, pad paper, and pencils. Business went very well since there were only a few stores that sold school supplies and books at that time. National Book Store's opening was strategically timed to welcome the first postwar school year.

In 1948, Typhoon Gene destroyed the store and soaked all the merchandise. Socorro Cancio-Ramos and Jose Ramos, with their family, decided to rebuild again, and slept for only three hours a day, spending the rest of their hours at work. They eventually constructed a two-story building with a mezzanine, which was to become their retail store for many years.

In the 1950s, Mrs. Ramos, the wife of Socorro Cancio-Ramos, thought of producing a line of greeting cards and postcards using Philippine views and artwork. It was a brilliant move for her to earn more. By creating a distinct design, it would promote Filipino customs and traditions to the rest of the world. Later on, they acquired the Philippine franchise for Hallmark cards. It was also at this time that the they began a publishing program through the assistance of international publishers such as McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, Lippincott, Addison-Wesley, and others.

In 1955 and after five years of negotiations, the Ramoses were able to acquire a piece of prime property owned by the Guerreros. It was only in 1963, however, that the construction of the Albecer Building began. This building was named after the first three Cancio-Ramos children—Alfredo, Benjamin, and Cecilia. (AL-fredo, BE-njamin, and CE-cilia) Little did they know that this nine-story building was the first of many that they would build.

When their children grew, they persuaded their parents to expand beyond Avenida Rizal. Although they were reluctant at first, the Ramos couple realized the opportunity envisioned by their children. They opened a new branch on Recto Avenue, a place catering to students. In the 1970s, they were able to acquire space in new shopping centers opening up in Cubao and Makati. This started the National Book Store chain's steady growth. By the 1990s there were over 50 branches across the country.

National book store now consists of 128 branches, including NBS Express mini stores.

New Logo

1996 brought significant change to National Book Store. The family decided to change the company logo and commissioned a Singapore design company to execute the new company identity. A more modern script was used, and what was once a striped background became a solid and bolder color red. This has brought a change in the store layout as well. Color-coded signs and logical merchandise displays provide a customer-friendly atmosphere in the branches.

An Institution

Over sixty five years of focused energy has brought National Book Store to where it is now: the pinnacle of the bookstore industry in the Philippines. The National Book Store family takes pride in its role as an institution that supports education and enhances lives by providing educational, professional, and social communication products.

The values that took Mr. and Mrs. Socorro Ramos through adversity -- hard work, shrewd business skills and a strong sense of social responsibility -- remain the driving force for the whole Ramos family, their 2,500 employees in over 120 branches. They firmly believe that these values will keep National Book Store ahead in the future.

Rebuilding

In 1963, the Ramos family built a nine-story building that served/s as their base of operations.

References

1. ^ ABS-CBN Interactive