Borders CEO Quits After A Year On The Job

Borders CEO Ron Marshall has decided to move on to better things after only a year. The troubled bookseller is currently in the process of closing 182 of its Waldenbooks stores (more than half of them), and is generally being frowned upon due to its lack of initiative in getting into the e-reader market. (Amazon has the Kindle, B&N has the Nook, and Borders has um…hmmm…) Now they’ll have to find a new CEO to turn things around.

From Reuters:

Marshall was brought in last year to replace George Jones, who had been CEO since July 2006, after a dismal 2008 holiday season when comparable sales at Borders’ superstores fell 14.4 percent.

Marshall’s departure comes on the heels of another weak holiday season. Comparable sales at Borders superstores fell 14.6 percent during the 11 weeks ended January 16.

Borders’ troubles led it to put itself up for sale in 2008, but the Ann Arbor, Michigan, retailer did not find a buyer.

We’ve had that certain special “death watch” feeling since November, when they announced the store closings.

Back in March we started getting tips that the stores were shrinking their CD and DVD sections and that suppliers were having trouble getting paid.

The company also did a reverse stock split in order to avoid being delisted from the NYSE. That’s always a great sign.

What do you think? Is Borders doomed?

Borders Boss Quits After Just Over a Year at Helm [ABCNews] (Thanks, Erin!)

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