US Book Retailer Borders to Close All Stores

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**WarOne**

Looks like it's curtains for the book retail chain.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303661904576454353768550280.html

Borders Group Inc. said it would liquidate after the second-largest U.S. bookstore chain failed to receive any offers to save it.

Borders, which employs about 10,700 people, scrapped a bankruptcy-court auction scheduled for Tuesday amid the dearth of bids. It said it would ask a judge Thursday to approve a sale to liquidators led by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Group.

The company said liquidation of its remaining 399 stores could start as soon as Friday, and it is expected to go out of business for good by the end of September.

Borders filed for bankruptcy-court protection in February. It has since continued to bleed cash and has had trouble persuading publishers to ship merchandise to it on normal terms that allowed the chain to pay bills later, instead of right away.

"Following the best efforts of all parties, we are saddened by this development," said Borders President Mike Edwards. "We were all working hard toward a different outcome, but the head winds we have been facing for quite some time, including the rapidly changing book industry, [electronic reader] revolution and turbulent economy, have brought us to where we are now."

Borders's best chance for survival fell apart last week when talks with private-equity investor Jahm Najafi to buy the company collapsed. Borders scrambled unsuccessfully over the weekend to find other potential buyers who would keep the chain alive.

The chain's demise could speed the decline in sales of hardcover and paperback books as consumers increasingly turn to downloading electronic books or having physical books mailed to their doorsteps.

"When you lose literally miles of bookshelves, it's going to have an impact," said David Young, chief executive of Lagardère SCA's Hachette Book Group, which Borders owed $36.9 million at the time of its bankruptcy filing. "I hope other retailers will now step up and make offers for what they consider to be the prime sites," Mr. Young said. "It's a tragedy Borders didn't make it through."

The loss of Borders may also make it more difficult for new writers to be discovered. "The liquidation of Borders is an irreplaceable loss of a big part of the book-discovery ecosystem," said Michael Norris, a senior analyst at Simba Information, a unit of MarketResearch.com "Thousands of people whose job consisted of talking up and selling books will eventually being doing something else, and that's bad for authors, agents, and everyone associated with the value chain in books."

Mr. Norris said other booksellers, including Barnes & Noble Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., will go after the shoppers who formerly considered themselves Borders customers. "They won't be able to pick up everyone," he added. "If shopping at your local Borders is part of your weekly routine, and then Borders is gone, you may end up doing something other than buying books."

**LordofHats**

Well, there goes the closest bookstore to my house :(

Guess I'm stuck with NookBooks.

You'd think that there'd be more than one bookstore within 20 miles when you live in the DC area.

**Corpsesarefun**

Borders closed in the uk a while ago.

Sad as it was the only bookshop with a coffee shop anywhere near me.

**Emperors Faithful**

They shut down here in Brisbane a a couple of months back. A shame really, though that area had three other bookstores, which led me to believe that it was the competition that had forced them to close, rather than bankruptcy.

**rubiksnoob**

It's sad to see it go.

**Wyrmalla**

I'd thought it was gone already, with all my local ones closing mothes ago and becoming dingy clothes shops. I guess we all knew it was the end for them when they started filching out store space to bloody GAME. ¬¬

**Chowderhead**

I don't usually buy at Borders, but when I do, it's always a good experien-

I just realized that I have about 200 bucks in rewards points. gak.

**Coolyo294**

I do believe that the Borders book stores in Minnesota are owned by Barnes & Noble, so there won't be much of a change for me.

**MrDwhitey**

corpsesarefun wrote:Borders closed in the uk a while ago.

I remember picking up most of the D&D books when it closed. But I'm ashamed to say, that was the first and last time I'd heard of Borders till now.

A shame any bookstore/chain going down.

**Chibi Bodge-Battle**

Sad indeed
Along with modelshops and the LFGS, bookshops are my favourite of shop.

Used to love Waterstones in Sheffield when it was a book store.
Now it is a cafe and gift shop that just happens to have some books

**Medium of Death**

Don't go Borders... please... stay with me!

Spoiler:

**Emperors Faithful**

...what did I just watch?

EDIT: And now I can't get the picture of your avatar's face superimposed on the singer out of my head. Creepy.

**Kid_Kyoto**

I really liked Borders, much more than B&N. I just felt lighter and airier.

Of course they've been slitting their throats, at least once a week they send me a coupon for 30% to 50% coupon, I've not paid retail there for 2 years.

I was really sad when they closed the one downtown, that was a great stress relief after work.

**asimo77**

This is odd, I'm scheduled to take inventory at a Borders in like a week (hurray for soul crushing tedious jobs for college students!), if they're going the way of the Dodo maybe no one will notice if a keep a couple books for my personal library...

**LordofHats**

asimo77 wrote:This is odd, I'm scheduled to take inventory at a Borders in like a week (hurray for soul crushing tedious jobs for college students!), if they're going the way of the Dodo maybe no one will notice if a keep a couple books for my personal library...

You could probably ask and they just might give them too you on the cheap

Actually there might be a massive going out of business sale in the future... That would be pretty sweet.

**asimo77**

I'm also taking inventory at, not one, but TWO Victoria's Secrets. That's for my other personal collection...

**GalacticDefender**

Its the friggin Kindle that is taking away the business. Am I the Only one who would like to have an actual physical copy of LOTR or Dune to actually turn the pages on, look at the maps in the front, or read on a boat near saltwater? KINDLES SUCK!

**LordofHats**

GalacticDefender wrote:Its the friggin Kindle that is taking away the business. Am I the Only one who would like to have an actual physical copy of LOTR or Dune to actually turn the pages on, look at the maps in the front, or read on a boat near saltwater? KINDLES SUCK!

Not really. Publishing as an industry has been suffering since the dawn of the radio/television/computers/internet. It has more competition than it used to. The entire publishing industry is stretched beyond the actual demand and has been for some time.

eBooks are probably the future though. Time to accept it and move on (honestly, I miss VHS).

**GalacticDefender**

No. I will never get an Ebook reader, even if it means looking through the dusty shelves of a back alley bookstore to find the book that I want.

**asimo77**

I can see the convenience of Kindles and the like, and they are "the future". But, I can also appreciate the satisfaction of having an actual book in my hands, and looking at the spines of hundreds of great books on my shelf. I guess I'm old fashioned, and I'm not even out of my twenties D:

Curse you technology!

**rubiksnoob**

I have an e-reader (a nook) and I despise it. Doesn't even come close to reading a real book.

'Cause you see, the thing is, reading a book isn't just about the words. It's a tactile experience. The feel of the paper and the physical turning of the pages is a bigger part of reading than most people realize. Just tapping a screen isn't the same. For this reason, I seriously doubt that the printing industry is going to be eradicated by e-books. E-books are here to stay, I'm not denying that, but real ink and paper books aren't going anywhere either.

And the bright screens hurt my eyes, too.

**Kilkrazy**

Hopefully the Borders shops will be turned into mobile phone shops, or women's accessory or shoe shops at least.

**djphranq**

Noooooo! I love going to my local Borders each week or so to use my coupons. It was closer than Barnes and Noble and more welcoming... I'm totally bummed out. The Borders here was doing just fine too.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

rubiksnoob wrote:I have an e-reader (a nook) and I despise it. Doesn't even come close to reading a real book.

'Cause you see, the thing is, reading a book isn't just about the words. It's a tactile experience. The feel of the paper and the physical turning of the pages is a bigger part of reading than most people realize. Just tapping a screen isn't the same. For this reason, I seriously doubt that the printing industry is going to be eradicated by e-books. E-books are here to stay, I'm not denying that, but real ink and paper books aren't going anywhere either.

And the bright screens hurt my eyes, too.

I concur on it being a tactile experience. I used to read on my PDA and iPhone but it doesn't hold a torch to holding a paperback or hardcover while chilling in a comfy chair. *goes to hug books*

**remilia_scarlet**

I work at a hastings, and I'll say this, the entertainment retailer market is very volatile right now, this isn't the first time a comany has gone under, and it won't be the last. Face it, we as a country are broke right now.

**olympia**

Amazon.com takes another scalp.

**Melissia**

Sad. I recently purchased some battletech books from there...

**remilia_scarlet**

CRUEL IRONY: google ads shows a borders ad.

**djphranq**

remilia_scarlet wrote:CRUEL IRONY: google ads shows a borders ad.

I can add something to the irony. As soon as I read this thread I received an email for a borders coupon.

**MrDwhitey**

I personally love my Kindle, I find it incredibly convinient to use, plus the amount of free ebooks out there is staggering. But yes, I do miss the feeling of books sometimes, but I generally solve that with my wargames manuals.

I do have some issues with the software though, it can be quite temperamental. And no, I'm not talking about the "experimental" stuff.

**Frazzled**

Can we get a big pile of crappy books and burn them in the parking lot? I'll bring the hot dogs. You bring the beer.