Borders Books To Close For Good

**American Patriot** · July 15th, 2011, 19:33

Borders Books To Close For Good

Posted: 10:58 pm PDT July 14, 2011Updated: 1:03 am PDT July 15, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO -- A last minute effort to sell the Border's Book store chain to a private equity company has collapsed, spelling the end for five remaining stores in the Bay Area.Borders had taken the place of many small independent bookstores, but many people like Ethel Aba said they don't buy books in the same way they might have in the past."I usually buy books for presents ... kids books, graduation books, but other than that for me I just use Kindle," Aba said.Alejandra Hurtado said she prefers to open a real book when he reads. "I come here because I like to read books and I buy books often," he said.Yelena Tretyakov of San Francisco agreed. "It's sad, it's sad, because we like to come here and look for books. It's very convenient," she said.Changing attitudes, purchasing patterns and the need to pay sales taxes not paid by online companies like Amazon has made it difficult for the remaining stores in Santa Rosa, Vacaville, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and at the Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco to survive.

Like the final chapter in a book, the end of Borders has been a long time coming.Fifteen stores closed in the Bay Area in February, when the company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. More than 11,000 employees have already lost their jobs nationwide.The closure of a store in Emeryville has already had an effect on stores nearby and traffic in the mall.Marquis Ransom of Pittsburg, has felt the loss. "I think that Borders supported the community," he said. "It was an outlet for people to come study."Mike Douglas feels for the people who worked in the Emeryville store. "I knew all the people who worked here and it was hard for them," he said.The future for Borders books is likely to be a liquidation company, which has bid to by the remaining assets to raise $284 million for the company's creditors.

Copyright 2011 by KTVU.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

**Ryan Ruck** · July 15th, 2011, 20:34

Wow... I knew they closed down a couple but didn't know about their last lifeline. I posted some of the titles I had picked up at their liquidation sale in that Library thread in General Discussion. Got some pretty good deals on some new books.

**Brian Baldwin** · July 15th, 2011, 21:02

Well California's laws don't exactly help business models either. But other than that, Digital is going to be the main way to get books in the near future. Ipads, Tablets, and Kindles are really gaining ground fast.

**American Patriot** · July 16th, 2011, 01:23

I have a kindle DX. JoAnne has kindle ii and Ipad. I don't think we've helped much considering we buy a LOT of shit from Amazon.

I loved going into Borders here though, they were a great store. Think they are closed now.

Too bad

Of course, I DID order a hard copy book today (Sailing book, one that I've been wanting for 3 years, but was 50 bucks. It was at 30-something today so I ordered)

**Phil Fiord** · July 17th, 2011, 04:39

Sad. I like Borders.

**American Patriot** · July 21st, 2011, 18:56

Borders to Seek Approval of Deal to Sell 30 Stores to Books-A-Million

Q
By Tiffany Kary - Jul 21, 2011 10:37 AM MT

Borders Group Inc., the bankrupt bookstore chain, may avoid a total wind-down by selling as many as 35 stores to Books-A-Million Inc. (BAMM) in a deal involving liquidators, Borders lawyer Andrew Glenn said.
Borders will, as scheduled, seek court approval today to liquidate its 399 remaining stores, Glenn said today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. The last-minute offer from Books- A-Million, which is still being negotiated, may save 1,000 to 1,500 jobs and boost returns to creditors, he said.
“This is a bittersweet day,” Glenn told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn, no relation, in a packed courtroom. “There are a lot of sad people around the country, a lot of sad people in the corporate headquarters. But there has been a late- breaking development.”
Books-A-Million would likely buy inventory from the liquidators, led by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC, and use a similar cost structure. The liquidators agreed to pay about 72 percent of the cost value of Borders’ inventory, which was estimated at $350 million to $395 million.
Borders jumped 48 percent to 3.7 cents at 12:14 p.m. New York time in over-the-counter trading, after almost doubling to 4.9 cents. Books-A-Million rose 9 cents, or 3 percent, to $3.05 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares earlier gained as much as 9.8 percent.
Super-Stores

Books-A-Million has made an offer for about 21 super-stores and nine smaller stores. Seven of the 30 stores are in Pennsylvania. The company also has an option on five more stores, bringing the potential total to 35, lawyers said.
The super-stores include sites in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Waterford, Connecticut.
Landlords would get information about what leases Books-A- Million would assume on an “informal basis,” Glenn said. The company would prefer to avoid litigation with landlords, he said.
The judge today told Borders to get the offer from Books-A- Million in writing and broke off the scheduled hearing on the deal with liquidators to give the company more time to document its terms.
Books-A-Million, which also runs stores under the names Books & Co., Bookland and Joe Muggs Newsstands, is based in Birmingham, Alabama, and operates in the southeastern U.S.
Borders, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has about 10,700 employees. It said earlier this week that it would close all of its stores by September.
The case is In re Borders Group Inc., 11-10614, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
To contact the reporter on this story: Tiffany Kary in New York at tkary@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Pickering at jpickering@bloomberg.net.

**Malsua** · July 21st, 2011, 19:35

The thing I never understand about these things...the two different Borders I used to frequent were ALWAYS busy. The one in Cherry Hill closed a year or so ago but the one in Riverdale is still open at this time...and it's still always busy.

**American Patriot** · July 21st, 2011, 19:39

Riverdale? How's Archie, Jughead and Veronica?

/chuckles

**Malsua** · July 21st, 2011, 19:57

Riverdale Mississippi is where the Archies are thought to be.

Riverdale NJ is a spot on route 23.

**American Patriot** · July 21st, 2011, 20:03

Either way. Mississippi or Jersey...

I don't get Borders either. The one I used to go to (closed now, I think about three months back) was always FULL of people. I couldn't even get assistance on occasion because everyone was so busy there.

It almost seems like the company did something wrong, someone is closing them down for no real reason (perhaps to dumb down America even more?) or perhaps they are going broke because they were robbed blind by the Board of Directors or CEO or something.