Waldenbooks

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…

There's a great piece by the Scholarly Kitchen's Joseph Esposito this week that asks, in response to the latest corporate megamerger between Penguin and Random house, "Why did publishers get so big?" His breakdown of the larger forces that led to larger publishers is exquisite. —Brian Howard

Quoth Esposito:

"For many people the rationale for bigness is all-too-evident: greed. But while greed can be a strong motivator, it is not a strategy. To put this another way, why does greed always reach for bigness? What is it about bigness that makes it economically irresistible?"

Three and a half years ago, I had an e-reader unwillingly thrust upon me.  I ignored it at first; shunned it.  Then one day I was packing for a long trip and it came on me in a flash that if I used the damned thing I wouldn’t have to limit myself to five pounds of books in my luggage. Since then I read more ebooks than physical books. I buy a lot more books, too. Last year I noticed that books were getting cheaper, but the writing was getting worse.

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

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.

DJM Realty has been retained to exclusively manage the disposition of all remaining Borders Group and Waldenbooks real estate in the United States.

Borders(R) today announced an all new Borders.com featuring discounts on the 100,000 bestselling titles, multiple free shipping options, new product lines, strategic partnerships that complement the Borders brand and a more integrated social media experience.

Borders Group today launched the "Borders Customer Commitment" program, a new customer satisfaction initiative.

Borders Group today announced it will open 25 seasonal Borders Express stores nationwide to serve customers during the holiday season.

(Press Release) ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 7, 2010, PRNewswire via COMTEX—Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP) today announced the launch of the Borders branded eBook store, powered by global eReading service Kobo(TM). Borders' goal is to secure a 17 percent share of the eBook market by July 2011.