National Bookstore

INTRODUCTION

National Book Store is the largest bookstore and offices supply store chain in the Philippines. National Book Store is a joint venture of retail giants SM Prime Holdings (75%) and Ayala Corporation (25%). Robinsons Land Corporation and Megaworld Corporation exited the twenty year-old National Book Store retail joint venture on 1 January 2010. Founded by the late José Ramos along with his wife Socorro Cáncio-Ramos, the company has evolved from a small stall in Escolta that sold supplies, GI novels, and school textbooks. When the Second World War broke out, strict book censorship enforced by the Japanese occupying forces forced them into selling soaps, candies, and slippers instead, buying their merchandise from wholesalers and peddling them to smaller retailers. The Escolta area was razed during the 1945 Battle of Manila, and the Ramoses rebuilt their business by initially erecting a barong-barong(makeshift stall) at the corner of Soler and Avenida Rizal. In time to catch the post-War boom, they returned to selling textbooks, notebooks, pad paper, and pencils, the sales being good at the time as they had little competition. National Book Store was strategically opened in time to welcome school year 1946–1947. After a typhoon in 1948 destroyed the store and damaged all the merchandise in 1948, the Ramos family decided to rebuild again, sleeping for only three hours a day after work. They eventually constructed a two-story building with a mezzanine, which was to become their retail store for many years.

Their purpose is to serve the customers with tools that enrich their minds and improve skills to ensure their success. All our efforts are concentrated to serve this purpose. We provide the largest selection of products and services, reaching more customers through our growing branch network, and spreading the love of reading and learning through our advocacy and community campaigns. They are visualizing to build a thousand knowledge centers in the...