Borders to file for bankruptcy

It's just Borders. They brought it on themselves, and it has nothing to do with a slow, slow death for brick and mortar. It has to do with horrible business decisions.

*shrugs*
Adapt or die. Its the way of the world, its the way of industry and its never going to change.

They are closing down some of their stores, not all. Our store in Santa Rosa will stay open, which is good because we use it as a central location for our critique group meetings twice a month.

They will be closing stores that are in close proximity of each other- such as two borders stores in bigger cities that are close together. I think it's about 160 stores closing all together.

They're crazy if they close "my" Borders -- Saturday and Sunday I couldn't even find a parking spot in their lot. Plus Seattle's Best has a new salted toffee mocha that ROCKS, and the Borders Cafe is extra busy. Already discussed my expanded cafe business model. "My" Borders could double their tables and still fill them.

Susan Littlefield said:

They are closing down some of their stores, not all. Our store in Santa Rosa will stay open, which is good because we use it as a central location for our critique group meetings twice a month.

They will be closing stores that are in close proximity of each other- such as two borders stores in bigger cities that are close together. I think it's about 160 stores closing all together.

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Part of the problem is that when they absorbed another bookstore chain they kept all of THOSE stores open, even when there were Borders stores already in the area. So the buying customers were split between two stores both paying rent and so forth.

I don't see this as much signaling the demise of bookstores, no matter what the gung-ho online crew says. It looks to me like more a case of mismanagement of resources and of just poor judgement.

For years the Borders website went directly to Amazon. It wasn't until recently they opened their own website and it's full of bugs and errors. My hubby tried to order a book and had to jump through hoops and contact customer service to redeem his Borders bucks. The website, in a word, sucks. And you can't do that these days, not if you want to survive.

And, to be honest, in a recession books are going to be considered a luxury by many. Food or books - most people will choose books. It's just the way things are.

My local B&N does booming business - mostly because of their events. Storytime for young childrens, author signings and so forth. And the store is *very* full almost all of the time with people buying...

... wait for it...

printed books.

While ebooks may be "the wave of the future" there's still going to be a large number of people who want actual books.

It'll be sad to see Borders cut down even more but I don't see it as the end and all that of bookstores.

I see it as bad business decisions coming home to roost. When the auto manufacturers went under I don't recall anyone predicting the end of cars.

Although I'm still waiting for my jetcar...

I always thought they had poor management and lacking in the PR department, that is referring to the UK branch of the company which doesn't exist any more. They could never compete against Waterstones or independent book shops in the UK. I am not surprised to be honest that they're going bankrupt in the States.

My local borders is a big, brand new expensive building built directly across the street from a well-established Barnes & Noble.

Stupid business decision.

Sheryl Nantus said:

Part of the problem is that when they absorbed another bookstore chain they kept all of THOSE stores open, even when there were Borders stores already in the area. So the buying customers were split between two stores both paying rent and so forth.

I don't see this as much signaling the demise of bookstores, no matter what the gung-ho online crew says. It looks to me like more a case of mismanagement of resources and of just poor judgement.

My local B&N does booming business - mostly because of their events. Storytime for young childrens, author signings and so forth. And the store is *very* full almost all of the time with people buying...

It'll be sad to see Borders cut down even more but I don't see it as the end and all that of bookstores.

I see it as bad business decisions coming home to roost. When the auto manufacturers went under I don't recall anyone predicting the end of cars.

Although I'm still waiting for my jetcar...

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Yes, the current outcome is the result of bad business on their part. I am not a particualr fan--in fact, I don't shop there at all. It's just a central location for our critique group. They provide a private table, whereas Barnes and Noble has removed ther chairs and does not have room for groups to meet.

Barnes and Noble is oaky, but I love any independent local bookstores I can find. They support thier community.

Susan Littlefield said:

Barnes and Noble is oaky.

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It is, indeed, with rich grassy notes and just a hint of peach and papaya. The '89 Reserve is particularly nice, I find.

The Borders in downtown Portland (Oregon) closed last fall. It had always had a lot of people in there, that I could see, and there was a light rail stop right in front of it. But it was just a few blocks from Powells, which is just so much better at just about everything. But last week Powells announced it was laying off 32 people, so all is not well there, either.

This makes me so sad... I know the business model is to blame and all, but I love my local Borders. All the people who work there know me by name--and I know a lot of their's, too. One of them helped me decide which X-Men to buy first, when I started collecting them. They've all tracked down various things for me, climbing up on the high shelves and whatnot. I've run into them other places and they ask me how my writing's going. It's like my bar, y'know? It's where I hang out!

good article for it here:

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1390

Saw something similar a while back and found this again thanks to the ever-fab Janet Reid. This is sad, but it is a result of many VERY poor choices made over a long period. I don't see it happening to all the chains.

The next few years will be very interesting for publishing and book selling. I don't see traditional books going away... ever. There is a need for them in many areas. I adore my kindle, but it is not a good tool for research. I can't see it becoming better than books for a long time. That is only ONE example.

As far as online stores go, too many customers prefer brick and mortar. There is still a need. Customers rule what will be, not the retailers themselves.

amyashley said:

I don't see it happening to all the chains.

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Actually, Barnes and Noble has been having financial issues for at least a year now as well. I don't think they actually filed for bankruptcy yet, but have been skirting the edge of it. I could be wrong, it's been a while since I read the articles about it.

Interestingly, I haven't heard anything about Books-a-Million having issues financially. I'm almost surprised, since as far as atmosphere, organization and friendliness go, I generally prefer to shop at Borders or B&N. I suppose they may just have a better business-model though.

Publishers Lunch just put out an email special. They've filed and plan to close about 200 stores.

From the Publishers Lunch email:
money owed to publishers

Penguin $41.1 million
Hachette Book Group $36.9 million
Simon & Schuster $33.75 million
Random House $33.5 million
HarperCollins $25.8 million
Macmillan $11.4 million
Wiley $11.2 million
Perseus $7.8 million
F+W Media $4.6 million
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt $4.4 million
Workman $4 million
McGraw-Hill $3.1 million
Pearson Education $2.8 million
NBN $2 million
Norton $2 million
Zondervan $1.9 million
Hay House $1.7 million
Elsevier Science $1.6 million
Publications Intl. $1.1 million

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I'm wondering if this will have any effect on publishing deals in the near future?

List of closing stores:
http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/st_borders0216_20110216.html

My local Borders is safe! I do try to go to Book Soup and Skylight Books, my awesome local bookstores, when I can. Though in my current state of brokeness, I'm usually inspired to go to Borders when they have a coupon.

aruna said:

From the Publishers Lunch email:
money owed to publishers
I'm wondering if this will have any effect on publishing deals in the near future?

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Eric at Pimp My Novel seems to think so:

Publishers may offer lower advances, especially on midlist titles. The industry has depended on Borders as a major market for new titles. If the publisher can't trust Borders to take a sufficiently large number of copies of a given title, this will factor into their profit and loss statements. As a result, they may advance less money to authors in order to increase the odds that any given acquired title will earn out.

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Kitty Pryde said:

List of closing stores:
http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/st_borders0216_20110216.html

My local Borders is safe! I do try to go to Book Soup and Skylight Books, my awesome local bookstores, when I can. Though in my current state of brokeness, I'm usually inspired to go to Borders when they have a coupon.

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We're losing one in Monroeville, PA - we don't go there often, but it's going.

Along with one set in a mall in Erie... which, btw, is a stone's throw from not only a B&N but ALSO a full-blown stand-alone Borders around the corner. This is one of the stores that came under Borders' control when they absorbed another chain.

It's decisions like that, to keep a mall small store open in the middle of bookstore central, that got Borders where they are today.

Thankfully we're not losing the Greensburg store, but...

They're closing the big store nearest to me and a mid-sized one that I sometimes visit. That will leave me with...no Borders within an hour.

And I think it will definitely affect advances. How can it not? If Borders is 8-20% of the market, I expect advances to go down even further - probably by 25% just to be on the safe side, or more if the publisher is struggling to recoup the bad debt.

I've never even seen a Borders or Barnes and Noble in the UK. All I've got is Waterstone's.

Jake.C said:

I've never even seen a Borders or Barnes and Noble in the UK. All I've got is Waterstone's.

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Borders went bust here December 2009. No B&N here, you may have Blackwell's if you live near a university town though.

*Cracking up because my first post read 'Borders went busty here in December 2009'

The only one we have in my town is closing. The next closest one is 2,000 miles away. I've never been in the place when it wasn't thronged with people and you didn't have to wait in line to check out. Makes you wonder about the upper level managing of this chain, doesn't it?

Although I can see how this might affect advances for say, a few months out of panic, I just don't get how it could really be a major issue.

Why would closing down even 20% of the market truly affect the CUSTOMERS? If they want books, they will buy books. Taking the stores away isn't going to stop them. Many of these stores are near competitors. Those stores should be seeing an increase in sales. Online stores should see an increase too. I would imagine that the publishers' initial panic might be unfounded. Personally, not having a particular bookstore doesn't stop me from buying the books I NEED. LOL

Although I can understand wanting to recoup the debt, that makes a great deal of sense; and I also feel terrible about the slow failing of a huge chain, this seems to be unclogging a hairy problem that's been dragging on for too long.

I hope that by closing these stores they are able to get back on their feet and the other chains out there benefit.