Borders Group

Fast Stats
February 1, 2009

$0 Amount Massachusetts-based, nonprofit Concord Free Press charges consumers for its books, including shipping. In exchange, the publisher asks readers to make donations to a local charity or someone in need in their community, and to pass on the book. Concord plans to publish two titles a year as part of its effort to “expand the definition of publishing and re-invigorate the book” (according to its Web site). Each book will be limited to about 1,000 copies.

Borders and Vuguru to Distribute Online Prequel to Cook Novel
June 20, 2008

Borders and Vuguru, an independent media studio owned by Michael Eisner, will distribute a Web series, “Robin Cook’s Foreign Body: The Prequel,” through the retailer’s newly launched Borders.com site. The series, which will consist of 50 two-minute episodes, is a prequel to Robin Cook’s new novel, “Foreign Body,” which will be released by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Aug. 5. The first two episodes of the series premiered Tuesday at www.BordersMedia.com/foreignbody, where customers also can pre-order copies of the book. New episodes are available daily, culminating in the final installment airing Aug. 4, the day before the release of Cook’s book. “By teaming with Vuguru

SPECIAL REPORT: The Transforming Booksellers’ Landscape
May 1, 2008

The biggest news in book retailing so far this year may be Borders’ opening its first “concept store,” a new generation of superstores unveiled in February in the company’s hometown of Ann Arbor, Mich. At 28,900 square feet, the new store—the first of 14 planned to open this year—does not skimp on size, and a lot of that space is taken up by innovative features: shop-within-a-shop “destination zones” for travel, cooking, wellness, graphic novels and children’s categories; bold, new architectural designs; and a “digital center” offering services ranging from book downloading to self-publishing. “Our mission is to be a headquarters for knowledge

Borders, Sony Team Up to Expand Sales of E-books and Sony Reader
September 21, 2007

Borders and Sony are teaming up on a partnership that the companies hope will help ignite e-book sales in the United States. The agreement includes a new, co-branded version of Sony’s online store for e-book downloads, which is expected to be launched in October. In addition, Borders will expand the sale of the Sony Reader––the e-book reading device launched by Sony about 10 months ago––to more than 500 of its stores nationwide beginning next month. Currently, the Reader is on sale in approximately 270 Borders stores. The announcement comes at a time when e-book sales are booming in Japan, but remain underwhelming by most accounts in

Borders Group Hosts Employee Fiction-Writing Contest
August 17, 2007

Borders Group Inc. announced a writing contest offering all of its 30,000 employees a chance to become a published author under the company’s proprietary publishing program. Employees from Borders and Waldenbooks stores, distribution centers and the corporate office can submit manuscripts under any fiction categorys. A panel of judges will award the winning author a book deal and a listing in Borders’ “Shortlist,” an e-mail promotion that now reaches more than 19.5 million e-mail addresses. “Our employees are talented and creative individuals who have tremendous passion for books, and we believe that there are many who also have undiscovered writing talent,” says Rob Gruen,

Content Crossroads & Distribution Junction
February 1, 2007

The hot-button issues in the book industry today surround an increased focus on content and alternative forms of distribution. Publishers are still keeping a watchful eye on the Internet and the fear that it may replace the print-based distribution business in the future. But there appears to be a greater acceptance and realization that “content” is a publisher’s real asset, and that the delivery method means nothing if the content isn’t outstanding. An increased focus on content, book search tools, digital distribution, a declining print readership, increased used-book sales, rising fuel and paper costs, and decreasing bookshelf space in retail superstores are all

Barnes & Noble Reports “Somewhat Disappointing Sales” for Holidays
January 5, 2007

The holiday shopping season offered up a “bah, humbug!” for the largest bookseller as Barnes & Noble announced it did not meet the company’s expectations for the quarter. The retailer reported same-store sales, those generated from stores open for more than a year, were down 0.1 percent compared with the same nine-week sales period in 2005. Overall sales at its flagship Barnes & Noble stores rose 2.6 percent to $1.1 billion for the holidays. Sales at B. Dalton, the company’s shopping-mall centric stores, were down 31.3 percent to $28.4 million, when compared with last year’s holiday sales. The drop is due in large

Borders to Scale Down Music Departments
December 15, 2006

Borders Group Inc., the industry’s second largest bookseller, is looking into reducing the size of its music departments to make way for other retail possibilities, company officials said last month. George Jones, president and CEO of Borders Group, discussed the future of CD sales during the company’s third-quarter earnings conference call in late November. Although the company reported same-store book sales were up 1 percent for the quarter, music sales were down 18 percent. “The music business, I think, really fits our mission, and it’s right for our customers,” he said. “I think it’s part of Borders DNA, and I think it’s part of the reason why

Borders Announces Management Changes
August 25, 2006

The second largest book retail chain in the United States restructured its senior management this week, a day after the company reported a higher-than-expected second-quarter loss. Borders named Cedric J. Vanzura, the president of Borders Group International, Paperchase Worldwide and information technology, as president of emerging business, strategy and technology, and Vincent E. Altruda, the president of Borders Group U.S., as president of Borders Worldwide. Both will report to new Borders Group CEO George Jones. Several other members of the management team will also now report to Jones. The company said the changes will be effective Aug. 28. The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company said its losses in