Widely regarded as the industry leader, MBS is the largest used textbook
wholesaler, bookstore systems provider, and distance learning distribution
service in the United States. Organized into three operating divisions — MBS
Wholesale, MBS Direct, and MBS Systems — each division supports our customers
with state-of-the-art technology and innovations that continually make doing
business with MBS easier.
2000 to the Present
.
Online bookstore management
.
MBS Realtime Ordering
.
MBS Service Center
.
Faculty Center Network website
.
STUDYtactics.com website
.
Textbook Trader and Bulletin Board
.
Universal Digital Textbooks Program (eBooks)
.
inSite Web Commerce Solution
.
Expanded database to more than 500,000 titles
and 110,000 wholesale prices
1981-1999
.
Retail invoice price extension
.
MBS DirectLink
.
Email notification of book shipments
.
Field-based customer service representatives
.
Warehouse automated storage and retrieval system
.
Book barcoding
.
Online buyback promotional materials
.
MBSbooks.com website
.
25 systems applications for bookstore management
.
MBS Internet
.
eMBS
.
MBS Direct
.
UPS/MBS partnership
.
IBM business partner
.
52 dedicated departmental toll-free numbers
.
Toll-free phone and fax lines
.
Expanded database to more than 300,000 titles and 90,000
wholesale prices
1980
.
Pioneered many technological innovations laying the
foundation for what is now known as the MBS Total Store Solution.
.
All retail stores across the country owned by Missouri
Store Company sold to Barnes & Noble College Stores.
.
Name changed to MBS Textbook Exchange, Inc.
1970s
.
Wholesale used textbook business re-entered under the name
University Book Services. Name subsequently changed to Missouri Book Services
(MBS).
1960s
.
Additional stores opened in Los Angeles and Irvine,
California; Boca Raton and Miami, Florida.
1950s
.
With the expiration of the GI Bill, some stores closed
when college enrollments returned to their historical levels.
1940s
.
Used textbook wholesale business ceased with the drafting
of most male employees during World War II. Following the war, stores were
opened in East Lansing, Michigan; Iowa City, Iowa; Lincoln, Nebraska;
Stillwater, Oklahoma; Jefferson City and Rolla, Missouri. College enrollments
reached an all-time high due to the GI Bill.
1930s
.
Operations expanded with the opening of bookstores in
Boulder, Colorado; Berkeley, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, California.
1920s
.
Began used textbook wholesale operation nationally.
Catalogs (forerunner to what is known today as buying guides) were mailed to
bookstores and college professors showing both selling and buying prices.
1909
.
Operations began as The Missouri Store Company in
Columbia, Missouri, selling classroom furniture and teaching supplies to public
schools in the state.
