Who Owns Books-A-Million?

The company began in 1917, when 14-year-old Clyde W. Anderson left school to support his family and built a newsstand from old piano crates on a Florence, Alabama street corner. He sold out-of-town newspapers to workers constructing the nearby Wilson Dam, then moved into a storefront and added books as the town grew.

The business expanded through the mid-twentieth century as a regional book and news operation, opening stores under the Bookland name. Charles Anderson, the founder's son, led the company's growth into a mall-based bookstore chain during the 1970s and 1980s, riding the expansion of American shopping centers.

In 1992 the company renamed the chain Books-A-Million and went public on Nasdaq, using the capital to build superstores carrying books, magazines, music and gifts. It grew through the 1990s and 2000s to become the second-largest U.S. book retailer behind Barnes & Noble, adding Joe Muggs cafes to stores and buying up locations from failed rivals including Borders and Crown Books.

The digital era squeezed the chain along with the rest of physical bookselling. Sales stagnated, and in December 2015 the Anderson family took the company private in a roughly $21 million buyout, arguing that public market expectations did not suit the long timelines of store investment.

Since going private, the company has quietly repositioned. It expanded its assortment into manga, collectibles, toys and pop culture merchandise, leaned into graphic novels and young adult categories where demand surged, and opened new stores selectively. Revenue estimates have risen: the company reported roughly $934 million in 2022, well above the approximately $475 million it posted at the 2015 buyout. Publishers Weekly profiled the chain's rebound in 2025, noting a program of 15 to 17 new store openings per year.