Borders Shutting Down - Liquidation Could Start Friday

Despite filing for bankruptcy and putting themselves up for bid, Borders is shutting down its remaining stores. “Borders Forced to Liquidate, Close All Stores” by Mike Spector and Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg of WSJ.com reports the company will be asking a judge “to approve a sale to liquidators led by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Group.” The article also reports,

“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.”

I previously wrote in February of Borders filling of bankruptcy. I wrote the chain suffered from three problems: competition from major retailers entering the book market, the delay of Borders entering the e-book market, and the change of executives. The companies plans were to close some stores down and ask Publishers they owed to give them more time - but neither planned worked.  The final solution seemed to sell the company and up until last week that seemed to be a possibility – but that fell apart also. The response from Borders President Mike Edwards about the closing announcement:

“Following the best efforts of all parties, we are saddened by this development… 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.”

While the closing of the chain may not come as a surprise considering their many problems, the publishing industry is now concerned with the impact of the closing. The reported 10,700 employees will be unemployed, the industry will lose the second largest book retailer, “the chain’s demise could speed the decline in sales of hardcover and paperback books” and “the loss of Borders may also make it more difficult for new writers to be discovered”.

Barnes & Nobles is now the largest and only major bookstore chain and hopefully will create some sort of promotion to absorb Borders shoppers. This could also help independent booksellers who are also struggling to stay atop in the industry. But most likely if you live in a city like mine’s, Providence, RI, Borders is the only bookstore with the exception of campus stores. I will probably have to stock up on books during the liquidation, buy from Barnes & Nobles whenever I can, and move on to Amazon.