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This Blog is all about National Book Store, According toWikipedia.org it is the largestbookstore chain in the Philippines with 128 branches in the country. It was set to open its first overseasbranch, in Hong Kong,in September 2007.
History
Through the hard work and leadership of Jose Ramos andthe late Jose Ramos with their family, the company has evolved from a smallstall into the most popular bookstore chain in the Philippines.
Before the Japanese occupation, the first National BookStore started as a stall shop in Escolta. It sold supplies, GI novels, andtextbooks. When World War II broke out, strict book censorship forced them toshift their trade to soap, candies, and slippers. They bought their merchandisefrom wholesalers and peddled them to smaller retailers.
After the war, the whole Escolta area was burned to theground. With all their stocks reduced to ashes, the couple was forced torebuild. They were able to rebuild a barong-barong, in the corner of Solerand Avenida Rizal, in time to catch the post-war business boom. They went backto business by selling textbooks, notebooks, pad paper, and pencils. Businesswent very well since there were only a few stores that sold school supplies andbooks at that time. National Book Store's opening was strategically timed towelcome the first postwar school year.
In 1948, Typhoon Gene destroyed the store and soaked allthe merchandise. Socorro Cancio-Ramos and Jose Ramos, with their family, decidedto rebuild again, and slept for only three hours a day, spending the rest oftheir hours at work. They eventually constructed a two-story building with amezzanine, which was to become their retail store for many years.
In the 1950s, Mrs. Ramos, the wife of Jose Ramos, thoughtof producing a line of greeting cards and postcards using Philippine views andartwork. It was a brilliant move for her to earn more. By creating a distinctdesign, it would promote Filipino customs and traditions to the rest of theworld. Later on, they acquired the Philippine franchise for Hallmark cards. Itwas also at this time that the they began a publishing program through theassistance of international publishers such as McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall,Lippincott, Addison-Wesley, and others.
In 1955 and after five years of negotiations, the Ramoseswere able to acquire a piece of prime property owned by the Guerreros. It wasonly 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 knowthat this nine-story building was the first of many that they would build.
When their children grew, they persuaded their parents toexpand beyond Avenida Rizal. Although they were reluctant at first, the Ramoscouple realized the opportunity envisioned by their children. They opened a newbranch on Recto Avenue, a place catering to students. In the 1970s, they wereable 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 therewere 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 Singaporedesign company to execute the new company identity. A more modern script wasused, and what was once a striped background became a solid and bolder colorred. This has brought a change in the store layout as well. Color-coded signsand logical merchandise displays provide a different atmosphere in thebranches.
Rebuilding
In 1963, the Ramos family built a nine-story buildingthat served/s as their base of operations. Cricle of Life
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