Our History

PBC 2005-Now

We went into business for ourselves in May 2005. For the first 9 months, Jade basically lived at the warehouse, running the entire operation on his own while Cori came in to help in the evenings and on weekends. (We still have the cot around the warehouse that Jade slept on when he got tired!).

In January 2006, Cori took the plunge into entrepreneurship and we figured out how to work together (and stay happily married - ok, most of the time) pretty quick!

2007 - 2010 brought lots of changes and growth. In 2008, we started to bring great authors to local schools, including Laurie Halse Anderson, Christopher Paul Curtis, Darren Shan, and Karma Wilson-just to name a few. We also grew our RIF business by almost double between 2008-2011 which gave us the opportunity to provide great books to thousands of children across the US.

In 2013, we launched full Shelf-Ready Library Processing services, Middle and High School Book Fairs, and continued our popular PBC Book Previews-We Keep You Current series. We are excited to continue expanding these services and are always adding new and exciting initiatives and resources for our customers, new and old alike.

Pre-PBC

Jade 1993-1998

Jade has been in the book industry since 1993. After graduating from ASU he took a job at a retail bookstore & discovered that he could be paid for sharing the love of literature he developed as an English major. He worked at Bookmans for 5 years, doing every job in the store. It was here he started working with educators fill school orders.

Jade 1998-2000

When it was time for a change, Jade moved to another independent bookstore in Phoenix and continued to develop his model of direct-to-schools sales. He successfully matched his extensive knowledge of the publishing and remainder industries with his excellent salesmanship skills to grow his fledgling educational business.

Jade 2000-2005

In 2000, Jade joined Changing Hands Bookstore and in a 5 year partnership with them, further grew the educational business. He developed a national business, supplying high quality new books to Reading is Fundamental programs. During this time, he also completed 3 bachelor's degrees at ASU in Classical Studies, History and German.

Cori's Story

Even though Cori thought she'd be a teacher, she decided to pursue a BA in English Literature, which she earned from ASU in 1994. She then worked at ASU for many years, where she found "teaching" again, this time as a trainer. At PBC Cori's happiest when she can book talk her favorite read and help people find just the right book.