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Good-Bye, Borders: Book Seller Prepares To Liquidate 399 Stores
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 18, 2011
Modified Jul 18, 2011
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 18, 2011
Modified Jul 18, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
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After filing for bankruptcy in February and hoping for a savior in spite of its debt, Borders has decided to liquidate. President Mike Edwards said, "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."
The Wall Street Journal reports, "The liquidation of the company's remaining 399 stores could start as soon as Friday, and the chain is expected to go out of business for good by the end of September, the company said." Grove/Atlantic publisher Morgan Entrekin told the NY Times, "It saddens me tremendously because it was a wonderful chain of bookstores that sold our books very well It’s part of the whole change that we’re dealing with, which is very confusing."
The company, which is the country's second largest book retailer, employs over 10,000 people, and one Twitter user, author Maureen Johnson, started a hashtag, #saveborderspeople to help soon-to-be-unemployed Borders workers with getting jobs. There are five locations in NYC—Columbus Circle, Penn Station, Staten Island, and at JFK and Laguardia Airports. The Wall Street Journal has an interactive map of stores.
Tagged
book store
borders
closing
economy
internet
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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