Borders liquidates: 10,700 jobs lost

[OhioChick]

Source: CNN Money

July 18, 2011: 6:47 PM ET

EW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Borders Group will liquidate its remaining assets after efforts to find a buyer fell through, the bookstore chain announced Monday.

The nation's second largest book seller, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, currently operates 399 stores and employs approximately 10,700 workers.

he liquidation process is expected to start as soon as Friday, pending bankruptcy court approval, Borders said in a press release.

Mike Edwards, president of Borders Group, said in a written statement that he was saddened by the development and that the decision came despite "the best efforts" of all parties.

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/18/news/companies/borders_liquidation/index.htm?source=cnn_bin&hpt=hp_bn3

[gateley]

1. This makes me so sad! Farewell to a golden era. :-( nt

[cstanleytech]

4. Ya bit sad here but they did it themselves imo.

by that I mean they didnt really seem to grasp that the ebooks were the the real future so they got left in the dust there where as barnes and noble and amazon saw the future was in ebooks.
Thats not to mention that (atleast in my area) that they refused to take pre orders over the phone anymore and were very rude and said if you wanted to do that you had to go online to order it at their site.

[amyrose2712]

5. I guess that depends on location...

I work there and they bend over backwards to order stuff for people. Also they've been pushing ereaders. I have only worked there for a few weeks though. I'm just very lucky that my BF has a decent job. Not that the crap money they pay could have sustained me anyway.

[cstanleytech]

16. Well thats what they told me when I called to order a book early last year.

They said that if i wanted to put it on order that I had to go online so i took my business to the local BN instead.

[amyrose2712]

23. I believe you, I just think they realized they were losing business

and started trying harder. Who knows.

[gateley]

6. I live in a neighborhood where there's a small book store in a small

mall - they have book readings, gatherings, and they're always packed. I hope at least some of these around the country survive.

I only went to Borders when I was in Portland (I live in Seattle and never went to the "new" one(s?)here, and my experiences were always pleasant. Of course, it's been years since I was there. Recently, for some reason, I looked at their website and I was just enchanted by the history.

Sooooo, another one bites the dust. :hi:

[amyrose2712]

8. Yea, I do miss small family owned bookstores.

[nilram]

11. What? Not Powells?

When I'm in Seattle, I often visit Elliott Bay Book Company -- even now that it's moved.

[gateley]

32. Even I haven't been to the new Elliott Bay! How is it? That was

sad, too, but at least they survived.

And you're right! It was Powells in Portland! :banghead: Man, that's scary that in my mind I replaced it with Borders!

[nilram]

33. That's hilarious!

Elliott Bay has a beautiful space. Less fun and interesting than their old one, but lovely nonetheless.

[kick-ass-bob]

43. lol - that is what I was thinking.

The one place on Earth I wouldn't go to a Borders would be Portland :D

[enlightenment]

18. Must have been your store -

every Borders I ever went into was filled with pleasant, knowledgeable, helpful people.

It is unfortunate that 'ya bit sad' is the best you can muster for the 10000 plus people who are now unemployed. Did they do it to themselves, too?

[cstanleytech]

37. Could very well have been a limited number of stores where this occured however

considering they are going under it also might not just be a limited number because if you treat a customer bad as they did in my case then the customer will go to another store if they can.

[Warpy]

19. Well, CRAP

Now I'll have to drive 20 miles to get to the weaving shop to get my fiber magazines.

[snooper2]

52. whats wrong with USPS

[snooper2]

51. Thats what the folks at Nortel said

lol

Innovate or get out of the way

[Kolesar]

2. Non-fiction authors were the only media who were contradicting neoconservative propaganda ...

... during the "Bush Cult of Personality". Even NPR and the New York Times joined the weak-willed conformists.

[amyrose2712]

3. Bye-Bye new job!

[gateley]

9. I'm so sorry! nt

[amyrose2712]

10. I figured it was coming, but I needed something,

I have been out of work and was lacking confidence so at least I got that back. I really need a tip-job! I SAID TIPJOB hehehe....

[gateley]

12. I'm sure wherever you land next you'll shine - I believe in you!! nt

[marasinghe]

46. really sorry to hear that. good luck

[Grassy Knoll]

7. This is Obama's fault, Right ?

Well No, but they will surely blame him.

[SSDA]

28. People are scared

And not shopping. Nothing is going on at all and I predict many more stores go under considering the small margins they operate on.

[24601]

54. If this was 2006, who would you blame, Clinton? The sitting

Pres gets credit for the good and blame for the bad. It goes with the territory and it they don't want it, don't run for the job.

[bongbong]

13. I remember

I remember going to Borders when there was one Borders - on State street in Ann Arbor. So some execs got big eyes, expanded, made a bunch of money for themselves, and ruined everything.

It's the story of America.

[Zambero]

14. Very sad to hear this

The local Borders is staffed with great people, most of whom have been there for quite a while. The service (compared to the "other" major competitor) has been the best. I'll be sorry to see them go.

[Beacool]

15. I'm heartbroken about Borders' closing.

I love bookstores. I spent many a pleasant hour at Borders. I'm sad to see it go. I'm also upset to think of the almost 11,000 employees who will lose their jobs in these tough economic times.

:(

[dkf]

17. I'm sorry but it's so much easier to read and watch everything on a tablet.

Having such easy access to content is the bomb!

[TomCADem]

20. I Miss Bookstores, But I Do Buy Online Or Read Online

Heck, here I am on DU...

[customerserviceguy]

21. While bookstores are quaint

they are fading into history, like it or not.

I'm sorry for those losing jobs, but they are like the buggy whip makers of a century ago.

[thelordofhell]

22. I'm sure the execs are keeping their retention bonuses though

:argh:

[prairierose]

24. Borders is the only real bookstore we have in this town...

I am very unhappy about this. I will have to buy online all the time now. Thank the goddess, we have a great library.

[KamaAina]

39. That's true in large swaths of the country

particularly away from the East Coast, where B&N dominates anyway. :(

[totodeinhere]

45. The way things are going, your library will probably be the next to go.

The public libraries here have had their operating hours cut way back, and their funding continues to be cut.

[OnyxCollie]

25. I can't wait

to walk into the Borders store I used to work at, find the GM whose reckless and unethical behavior cost the employees thousands of dollars in lost wages and who harassed me incessantly until I quit because I blew the whistle on him, and laugh right in his fucking face.

How are you gonna support your third wife and whelp now, dickhead?

[reformist2]

26. Computers are taking over everything. I don't like it.

I guess that makes me a conservative?

[TomCADem]

29. No, That Makes You A Luddite, Which Can Be A Liberal...

...if you are pushing for a return to nature and that sort of stuff.

[reformist2]

30. Yes, I guess I am. Everybody toss your Kindles in the fire!

[TomCADem]

31. Sorry, Does Not Have The Emotional Impact Of Faranheit 451

Plus, the toxic sludge resulting from the incineration of all those electronics could offend your back to nature sensibilities.

;)

[WatsonT]

35. Of course books aren't all that natural anyway

so it's kind of splitting hairs.

[The Straight Story]

38. I like how computers are affecting it all, and here is why

Not only does it reduce the use of trees and such in printing - BUT it also lets just about anyone write and distribute their works online. Avoid the big publishing houses. We have folks here on DU who are self published on Amazon (costs nothing to publish, you get .70 per $1 of the book sale).

More choice, easier distribution, less hauling of books across countries in semi trucks (I work for a publisher btw).


SAD for the book stores and those who work there, was just commenting though on the tech upsides :)

[Islandlife]

27. Do you remember their Grand Opening in your town?

It was such a big, exciting deal. The store looked great. The atmosphere, store layout, and the sheer number of books kept me browsing for hours. Time would always fly any time I would walk into that store. If you couldn't find it there, they would help you get it ordered. What a selection.

The coffee shop was what I imagined a sophisticated book shop to be. I couldn't afford a thing.

I rarely ever purchased anything because if a book I wanted was not on sale it was over priced. But I thought I saw many others buying.

Now I wonder if I had been a typical customer.

[Hardrada]

34. Millions of books of all kinds out there. And people like the big

coffee table books and art books a kindle can't handle. And then there are the serious texts people would want to underline or magic mark. Can't do that on a kindle, I don't think. I have also noticed small bookshops opening here and there in the last year, the sort a single person with a staff of one or two can operate. Bookstores are not going away and used bookshops will be around for ages.

[dmallind]

36. Well...

And then there are the serious texts people would want to underline or magic mark. Can't do that on a kindle, I don't think

Yes you can - and also can instantly find and access those passages from a list rather than flipping through the book and scanning all the highlighted passages.

Really huge detailed illustrations are the only objective strength a physical book has over a tablet or e-reader, and that's both decreasing as color screens come in, and for the most part limited to "image" books used as props rather than read by huge swathes of their owners.

[Hardrada]

44. Kindle

I think I would detest that and wonder about this inclusion of a list. That is one extra step that is not needed if you have a book to look through (and perhaps notice some additional salient points). I think actually what this boils sown to is a question of aesthetics and not necessarily one of utility. And one really can't argue about aesthetics. De gustibus non disputandum est. I also imagine illustrated erotic books like Madonna's magnum opus would would not come off so well (so to speak) with a kindle.

[dmallind]

48. An EXTRA step?

Let's see.

1.Goto

2. Bookmarks

3. Press screen for selection.


So unless you can always, without fail, find your chosen highlighted passage in two page flips it's not an extra step.

Unless you can always find it in 3 it's actually fewer steps.

[kentauros]

49. The only other "alternative"

would be Post-It note tags for every bookmark, labeled and color-coded, and stuck out the sides at all angles ;)

I don't have a Kindle (will be getting one, soon) but have always felt these things would be absolutely perfect for engineering reference books. You know, the ones that cost $500+ for a book that's about 400 pages long? And they go out of date pretty much every year. Digital copies would be easy to update, and, of course, carry ;)

Same goes for the AutoCAD books I'd love to have on the Kindle, if they're available...

[Hardrada]

57. Read book. Highlight.

Make notes. 3 steps. Voila! Some of us prefer written notes to incorporate into a text later on.. You can't paste everything, not so?

[Evasporque]

40. Stupidifcation of America marches on Republicons pleased....nt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

41. When Borders came to town, the small bookstores fell

So when Amazon comes to town ...

I'll miss Borders, but there's a certain karmic feeling.

:hi:

[LisaM]

42. I remember the original Borders in Ann Arbor

Not the store they have now, but a smaller one. What was charming about it was that they had the best selection of literature you'd ever want to see, and they called it "Belle Lettres". I loved shopping there.

I'm sad, sad for my friends who've lost jobs, sad that it was mismanaged, sad that it's very difficult to go into a bookstore now and browse through a well-chosen and large selection of books.

Going into ebooks really is against what Borders used to be about.

So I guess all of the people who love Amazon and love gizmos and want to buy everything online to save $3 and get their books one day earlier won. You won. You are going to completely eradicate that bookstore experience for those of us who loved it. You won and I hope you're happy. You can also go to hell.

[RobinA]

47. I Would Much Prefer

to buy books at the book store, but two points re Amazon. Price and selection. When Borders et al. first opened they had a very deep inventory. You could find stuff there that you couldn't at the small bookstore, and since I don't read best sellers, that was great for me. That stopped, though. They, and B&N, dumbified and now to find anything non-mainstream one must go to Amazon. Amazon prices are often quite a bit better than the retail outlets, especially on text books. I am aware that Amazon has certain advantages. Nevertheless, I spent plenty at brick and mortar stores. However, my current B&N has almost twice its book space made up of an ever-expanding kiddie section. Maybe that's where the business is, I don't know, but for this book (not e-book) buyer, B&N is becoming increasingly less relevant as they have fewer and fewer non-bestsellers for grown-ups. Sure, they will order stuff, but that's two trips to the not very convenient bookstore rather than one trip to the convenient computer to Amazon, who has the thing in stock.

Exception - Barnes and Noble in University City here in Philadelphia. A fantabulous store where I can pick a book on Histology right off the shelf.

[titaniumsalute]

50. I could wait in line, deal with Borders not having books, etc.

Or I could order on Amazon and have it delivered in two days to my doorstep.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

53. Borders is nicer than Amazon for random browsing

Sometimes it's just nice to wander around a store (air-conditioned, of course) and look at books. I haven't tried their coffee.

:hi:

[ChromeFoundry]

55. Next up - Barnes & Noble...

They will only last a few more years unless they gain traction in the eReader arena.

[maryellen99]

56. They already have an eReader

It's called the Nook. They also have one called Nook Color which can also be used as an android tablet. You can also read eBooks on it from the library too.

[ChromeFoundry]

58. the Nook only has about 22% of the market...

and with the Kindle being sold at most big box stores with 3G built-in without a subscription.. the Nook will lose ground unless they show a greater competitive advantage, and attain at least 30% of the market by the close of the 4th quarter.

[maryellen99]

59. Wow! I thought marketshare was higher

I think I'm going to be switching to a Kindle in the next couple of months anyway. The battery life on my nook is not good.