The origin of this company occurred during the 1920's, when Ernest A. Prince began selling magazines in a general store in Anderson, SC, which soon evolved into a newsstand. A few years later the establishment of a wholesale magazine distribution company as an addition to the newsstand brought Mr. Prince's two sons, Bill and Francis, into the business. When Pocket Books, Inc. began selling paperback books in 1939, the wholesale agency became a bookseller in addition to its magazine trade.
The retail and wholesale parts grew in size over the next 30 years and the business was split into retail and wholesale on the death of E. A. Prince in 1968. Bill Prince took the reins of the wholesale agency at this time, with his two sons, Sam and Bob, coming into the business after college. In 1974, Sam's wife, Ann, became an integral part of the operation. The business was run successfully until its sale in 1996 by this new generation joined by Bob's wife, Lynne, in early 1996.
In the Fall of 1996, the wholesale agency was sold to a new owner and the agency's school business was retained by the brothers. With this small part of the company growing locally, they decided to take the business statewide in South Carolina. This was announced to schools and teachers at the SCASA Leadership Institute at Myrtle Beach, SC in June 1997. By this time, the family members had a total of more than 100 cumulative years of experience in the book business.
