THE BAD AND THE UGLY HAVE MET BORDERS

Say goodbye to the Borders chain. It's over. “I think it’s horrible that Borders is closing,” said a customer from Naperville. “It’s a sign of the times that video games and electronics are taking precedence over books in our culture." That is a scary thought, isn't it? What does this mean for B&N? No competition? I read that employees are not allowed to discuss when final sales will occur. Almost 11,000 people will lose their jobs, which is a sad thing. How did B&N survive when Borders failed? NPR suggests that one reason may be that BN put its money into digital investments. While B&N was busy building its website, Borders outsourced its online sales to Amazon. That was a huge mistake, as this customer explains: "I'll go to Borders to find a book, and then I'll to go to Amazon to buy it." Borders hadn't made a profit since 2006 says NPR. NPR concluded with this interesting theory: "With Barnes & Noble staking its future on digital technology, Raff says, it's likely the big bookstore will only live on in big cities."

BORDERS IS..NOT...DEAD... YET.

Last week Borders's bankruptcy meeting was held before a judge to prevent the closing of 50 of its stores. Borders will now pay 1 million dollars for an extension to maintain its base while it looks for a potential buyer. The judge said “I’ll approve it with reluctance. I think you’re getting raped is the best way I can describe it. The other side of the coin is, it’s the only game in town. It’s very close to me saying no.” Borders told the judge that if it did not get an extension then it would be faced with immediate liquidation.

I love how some judges describe things. They can make mundane things seem way more interesting.

A BOOKSTORE INSIDE A BOOKSTORE

I saw this photo on PW and thought it was great!



It's an independent bookstore called Fleeting Pages that has opened up inside a vacant Borders store in Pittsburgh. He he he!

OH NO BORDERS

AP: "Borders was slow to get the message as the big-box retailer lost book, music and video sales to the Internet and other competition. The result: It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday, and will close nearly a third of its stores"

I like this quote "Less nimble than rival Barnes & Noble, Borders now begins what analysts expect will be a quickly resolved struggle for the survival of its remaining stores. It's the latest cautionary tale about the dangers retailers face when they fail to keep up with swiftly changing technology and consumer habits."

My coworker last week was talking about the Nook... I mean Nook... (there's no article) and she is convinced EVERYTHING has to do with ebooks. But there are other things that are causing its demise too.

"Borders also suffered from a series of errors: failing to catch onto the growing importance of the Web and electronic books, not reacting quickly enough to declining music and DVD sales, and hiring four CEOs in 5 years without book-selling experience."

Not everything is about ebooks! They play a part, but A PART. Ugh, I'm getting sick of just mentioning the word ebook. (And don't think I forgot about my experiment! I haven't finished my sketches yet so I can't get to it yet).

"Norris said Borders' problems mean that publishers will have to immediately cut their 2011 revenue estimates by 1 to 10 percent. Paperback sales, an area that Borders cultivated more than Barnes & Noble, may suffer in particular."

"I think Borders' fall will cause a lot of publishers to realize they can't just count on a few giant entities to sell their products, and the best retailing partners are going to be those who have to sell books in order to draw their next breath," Norris said."

"Borders plans to close about 200 of its 642 stores over the next few weeks, from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., costing about 6,000 of the company's 19,500 employees their jobs. The closures are also a blow to publishers already owed tens of millions of dollars by the company, which stopped paying them in December."

OUCH. It's not over yet, but it could be soon. Only time will tell.

GOODBYE BORDERS?

Borders may very well file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They have already eliminated 15 top positions. They owe money to publishers so the question is - will the publishers accept their deal or let them slip away? If Borders goes this will not be good for the industry because of the money owed. My question is: how has B&N managed to stay alive? Will it also crumble? These giants took down many smaller booksellers. Will this make room for the small guys to come back? Or are ebooks killing the book as a solid form entirely? Or will a new idea emerge, as I'd read, where there will be "filling stations," and customers will go to bookstores to plug in their devices, download books, and use the stores to ask questions and seek advice. Umm...

I have lots of questions today but no answers. I do know that the idea of a "filling station" is ridiculous.