Borders Group

How Can Barnes & Noble Avoid Borders’ Fate?
December 21, 2015 at 1:48 pm

In the wake of declining sales and increasing debt, Barnes & Noble is struggling to deliver growth, increase foot traffic in its stores, sell more digital goods and otherwise race against the clock to find a winning formula before it suffers the same fate as former chief rival Borders. Facing stiff competition from Barnes &…

Big-Box Bookstores Don’t Have to Die
December 17, 2015 at 10:56 am

You could say I have a sentimental attachment to the chain bookstore. Growing up in an intellectually impoverished American suburb, I spent much of my free time in now-defunct locations of Borders and Barnes & Noble. I read garbage, mostly: popular history magazines, Star Trek novelizations, art tomes whose pages I scoured only for frank…

Minding the Bookstore Redux: How a Mentality Turned into a Mistake
August 1, 2014

A few years ago, when I was reading several annual SEC reports from the soon-to-be defunct Borders Group, I came across a sentence that not only defined the dysfunction of one retailer, but the dangerous mindset that has been crippling the book industry for decades.

Borders Bookstore is Reborn in Singapore
August 15, 2013

Just like the beloved snack cake Twinkies was rescued from the depths of its owner's bankruptcy, Borders, a longtime staple among retail book stores, is getting a new chance at life thanks to several global companies that snatched up trademarks and intellectual property rights at auction after the brand went bust in 2011. When it was announced recently that Borders would resurface in Singapore before the year's end, book lovers and sellers alike greeted the news with cautious optimism. After all, Borders Singapore-which had operated under the independent Borders

New Economics Rewrite Book Business
August 29, 2011

The economics of the book business are changing so rapidly the industry barely looks like it did just six months ago.

The era of the book superstores, with their big windows and welcoming tables stacked high with books, has gone into decline. Many of the country's most enthusiastic readers have already switched to less-costly digital books. Amazon customers now buy more Kindle titles than hardcovers and paperbacks.

Goodbye, Borders Executives
August 5, 2011

Borders, the 40-year-old bookstore chain that is in the midst of going out of business, said today its senior executive team also is going out the door.

The employment of President Mike Edwards and CFO Scott Henry “terminated” as of July 29, a Borders regulatory filing said in classic passive verbiage.

No Storybook Ending for Borders Group
July 28, 2011

50 years ago, Lawrence Hoyt opened The Walden Book Store, which would later become Borders Group. Now, Borders is closing its doors for good.

As Borders exits, indie bookstores fight other Goliaths
July 28, 2011

A decade ago Austin bookseller Steve Bercu faced a Texas-sized threat to his independent store: Borders planned to build a megastore just blocks away. So he dug in his spurs and garnered community support, keeping the franchise out of his area.

As of last week the national retailer is no longer a danger as the liquidation of its remaining stores ensues. But Bercu's 40-year-old BookPeople is up against the same challenges that led to Borders' demise— steady growth of e-books and the increasing lure of Amazon and other online sellers offering discounts over brick-and-mortar pricing.

New Chapter for Kobo as Borders Liquidates
July 26, 2011

The impending shutdown of Borders Group Inc. has spelled uncertainty for Canadian digital bookseller Kobo, whose partnership with Borders marked the chain’s too-little, too-late effort to cross over into the digital realm.

Borders was an early investor in Kobo and still holds an 11% stake in the Toronto-based company, which is also backed by majority shareholder Indigo Books & Music Inc., Cheung Kong Holdings and others.

Calling Off Auction, Borders to Liquidate
July 20, 2011

The Borders Group said Monday that it would liquidate, shutting down the 40-year-old bookseller after it failed to find a last-minute savior.
Though it is not a big surprise, the move will still strip the publishing industry of shelf space that is becoming increasingly scarce as brick-and-mortar stores continue to founder.

Borders said it would proceed with a proposal by the private equity firms Hilco and the Gordon Brothers Group to close down its 399 remaining stores. That liquidation plan will be presented on Thursday to the federal judge overseeing the company’s bankruptcy case.