Posts about Borders

Borders Store To Be Turned Into Library System Nexus
Here's another cool liquidated Borders store conversion story. The Pioneer Library System in Oklahoma is buying up a 25,000 square foot Borders store and turning it into their new book master control system headquarters. More »

Man Reuses Letters From Borders Sign To Open "ODE" Bookstore In Same Spot
San Francisco is big into recycling and books, and both interests have combined in the form of a liquidated Borders bookstore that is getting reused as a used bookstore. The owner is even finding a place for the letters in the original Borders sign: spelling out the name of the new store, "ODE." More »

Liquidated Borders Store Reincarnated As Temporary Halloween Shop
What happens to old Borders stores now that the book chain is bankrupt and liquidated? In Kennesaw, Georgia, one old Borders shop has been brought back from the dead as a temporary Halloween supply warehouse. It makes reader DW sad. More »

Barnes & Noble Greets Borders Customers With Letter From CEO
Now that Borders has gone belly-up, Barnes & Noble could totally sweep in and be all like, "na na na na na na!" But instead, it seems they're taking the high road and being pretty cool to the formers Borders customers grieving over their bookstore. More »

Borders Employees Say Adios With Oversized Confession To Customers
There's nothing like the full confession of a few former employees who have a bone to pick with the common customer. In this case, it's some Borders workers, who have taken to a ginormous piece of paper to list, in detail, their biggest peeves with shoppers. More »

Judge Holds Up Borders Sale Due To Privacy Concerns
Things are so bad for Borders that the company can't even seem to fail properly. A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge threw a hurdle in front of the proposed $15.8 million sale of intellectual property to Barnes & Noble, demanding that paperwork must clarify privacy rights for 48 million customers whose data will be swapped in the transaction. More »

14 Borders Stores To Be Reborn As Books-A-Million
Loyal customers of some Borders stores in the Northeast and Midwest, rejoice: you may not have to go long without a book superstore once Borders closes. According to bankruptcy court documents filed yesterday, Alabama-based chain Books-A-Million has agreed to take over the leases for 14 Borders outlets, mostly in the Northeast. A previous proposal for BAM (best store acronym ever) to take over 30 Borders leases fell through. More »

Google+ Circle Forms Jobs Blog For Ex-Borders Workers
Borders shutting down means 11,000 nice bookworms are out of a job. That's a pretty sad thought so a couple of friends started musing together on Google+ about how someone should help these folks out. So they started a new blog, "Help Ex-Borders Employees" where people can post job listings for these newly unemployed. More »

Even The Computers At Borders Have Given Up
As Borders stores around the country are being salvaged for scraps before being melted down into a homogenous molten goo, it appears that even the retailer's in-house computers have decided its time to retire. More »

Borders CEO's Goodbye Email To His Customers
Mike Edwards, the CEO of the liquidating Borders bookstores emailed a farewell note to all Borders Rewards Members last night. In it, he looked back at the over 40 years of bookselling and imagination-stoking the chain has done and explained why they were closing down. Beyond the sentiments, he also explained some important things you'll want to know if you want to buy some books from them before they close their doors for good. More »

Borders Gets No Love From Bidders, Forced To Liquidate
Though Borders had received a tentative "stalking horse" bid earlier this month for around $215 million, that deal has since fallen apart and no one else has stepped up to the bidder's box. Thus, the company has decided to say "aw, screw this," and liquidate. More »

Borders Finds Someone Willing To Buy It For $215 Million
Nearly five months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the once huge chain of Borders bookstores has finally found a private investment firm willing to buy it for $215 million. Alas, the buyer would also be assuming $220 million in debt from the busted bookseller. More »

Buying Fixtures In A Retail Liquidation Sale: A Cautionary Tale
Liquidators hired to clean out a closing retail store sell everything, down to the equipent and fixtures. Well, theoretically they do. Jay bought a handtruck from a closing Borders store, paid in advance, and was told to stop by the store to pick up the purchase later that month when the store actually closed. When he did, the store had closed, and all of the fixtures were gone, along with the liquidators. More »

An Open Letter To You From An Employee At A Liquidating Bookstore
Have you ever wondered what goes through the mind of a clerk behind the register at your favorite bookstore which is being liquidated in a bankruptcy sale? What do they make of all of it? What are their hopes and dreams? Are they just mentally picturing making everyone's head explode? Well nows your chance to plumb those depths, as McSweeny's has published a humorous open letter written by an employee at one of these stores *cough* Borders *cough*. More »

Pop-Up Bookstore To Temporarily Take Over Empty Borders Store
Like a hermit crab taking up residence in the shell of a deceased snail, a former Borders store in Pittsburgh will soon see its shelves lined with books — if only temporarily — when it briefly becomes the home of an independent bookseller. More »

Borders Revises Store Closing Ad To Make It Less Confusing
We're delighted to report that Borders sent out a new e-mail blast to customers in markets with closing stores. This flyer is significantly less confusing than last week's, which sent r Devin on a heroic quest to get the additional 10% discount that the e-mail had promised him. More »

Sign At Closing Borders: 'Manga So Cheap, You Don't Need To Steal Them Anymore!'
Reader Syndicate Product spotted this sign at a Borders store in liquidation, noting that manga and graphic novels were only 30% off at the time...and then there's the 8% sales tax in this area. Not particularly cheap, then. The sadness and frustration still come through. More »

Bankrupt Borders Moving Corporate Headquarters To Metro Detroit
The winds of change over at bankrupt Borders are blowing the company from its current Ann Arbor, Mich. headquarters over to Metro Detroit. More »

In Search Of The Mythical 10% Additional Borders Discount
Do you live near a closing Borders store? Did you receive an e-mail last week promising 10% off in addition to rewards-card discount and liquidation markdowns? Devin did, and he and other customers were frustrated when Borders employees wouldn't give him the discount promised in the e-mail. Except the message didn't promise any additional discount. Or maybe it did. More »

Closing Borders Store Tells Customers Where To Find A Restroom
We've gotta hand it to the employee at a doomed Borders store who still has a sense of humor about the company they work for going down the drain. More »

28 More Borders Stores Added To Closing List
Borders announced late yesterday that heartbreak, job loss, and terrible liquidation sales are coming to even more of its stores than previously announced, as part as the company's bankruptcy plans. In a statement the company said that the stores added to the list will close by late May, and could start liquidation as soon as this weekend. More »

Borders Employee: I Don't Want To Mislead Customers To Sell Rewards Cards
Reader "Ann" works at Borders, and wants Consumerist readers to know that many employees there find the constant flogging of the rewards program problematic. Ann, for one, found a sales script that employees are encouraged to use so troubling that she wrote in to Consumerist about her concerns. More »

Scoping Out The Sad State Of Affairs At A Borders Liquidation Sale
The liquidators have swooped into Borders with giant black and yellow signs screaming 20-40% off. But are these sales a good deals for consumers? I visited one to find out. More »

Amazing Deals Available At Borders And Ultimate Electronics Liquidation Sales
Two big-box retailers are currently liquidating: Ultimate Electronics is closing all of its stores, and almost a third of Borders locations are closing. Surely this presents some excellent savings opportunities for consumers. Let's be vultures and check in on the progress of the sales. More »

Scenes From A Borders Liquidation Sale
Savvy shoppers know that there aren't any true deals to be found at the liquidation sales of closing retailers, but most people aren't savvy shoppers. Employees of doomed Borders stores are sharing their experiences online, and report that their stores are doing record business now that the liquidators have arrived and the garish "store closing" signs are up. Thanks to consumer confusion, business is good at the stores that aren't closing, either. Who knew bankruptcy was so good for business? More »

Borders Turns The Page To Chapter 11
We knew this was going to happen, and now it has come to pass: Borders has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and plans to shutter 30% of its stores as a result. More »

Borders Prepares To File For Chapter 11
After failing to keep pace with the boom of e-readers and develop a strong digital presence elsewhere on the interwebs Borders Group Inc. could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy-protection as early as Monday or Tuesday. More »

Borders Delays Payments To Vendors For 2nd Month
Stumbling book store chain Borders has said that it would delay payments to landlords and vendors for the 2nd month in a row. In a terse press release, the company said the move was meant to "help the company maintain liquidity while it seeks to complete a refinancing or restructuring of its existing credit facilities and other obligations." In other words, they're trying cling to cash and stave off bankruptcy. Borders also announced receiving a $550 million loan from GE Capital. Better keep pushing those loyalty cards to customers that could become worthless pieces of plastic if the company goes belly up, Borders clerks, you're our only hope! Customers, if you got a Borders gift card for Christmas, now might be a good time to cash it in. More »

E-Trade, Borders And Frontier May Vanish This Year
Get ready to say goodbye to the E-Trade baby and Frontier Airlines. According to 24/7 Wall Street, the two businesses are among their 10 picks for companies that will not survive the year. Others that may not be long for this world: Sara Lee, Gateway and Office Depot. More »

Employee: Borders Is Making Us Push Loyalty Cards That May Be Worthless If Company Declares Bankruptcy
Borders has struggled to pay publishers and may be facing bankruptcy. As a result, one employee is alleging the bookseller is getting desperate, ordering employees to encourage customers to buy loyalty cards that could lose all value if the company files Chapter 11. More »

Borders Meets With Publishers Instead Of Paying Them
Though they swear everything is hunky-dory, Borders is delaying payments to big publishers and setting up some coffee klatches to talk it over. Is Borders reaching its final chapter? More »

Borders.com Charged Me 40 Percent Sales Tax
Reader M bought four books online from Borders for $17.82 and was charged $7.07 in sales tax. Unless the books were cigarettes, there was probably an error on Borders' end. But M says the bookseller refuses to acknowledge a mistake. More »

Borders Cancels My Order, Makes My Coupon And Borders Bucks Disappear
Equipped with a coupon and store credit, Scott thought he was in a great position when he placed an order on Borders.com. But a snafu left Scott empty handed, with his order canceled, his balance drained and his coupon vanished. More »

Buy Something At Borders, Get Free DirecTV Ad
DirecTV ads are everywhere — on TV in your mailbox, on flyers stuck on doors and in glossy Sunday newspaper ads — so it's only natural that David found one along with his Borders receipt. More »

Borders Tells Me Returns And Exchanges Are The Same, I Can Do Neither
Quadmama wanted to exchange a pair of books she received as gifts, but the manager stonewalled her because she was 60 days outside of the return window. When Quadmama reiterated that she wanted to exchange the books for replacements, not return them for money, the manager told her that for the bookstore's policy purposes, a return is the same as an exchange. More »

Is Ordering Drinks Without Ice Just A Scam To Get More Delicious Beverage?
I like to order my cold drinks (especially soda) without ice, because—shocking revelation—I don't really like ice. I didn't realize that all of these years, I've been running a massive scam on the eateries of America, weaseling extra beverages out of them with my innocent request. That's what a barista at a Borders store accused JD of doing when he ordered an iced chai with no ice. She gave JD what he describes as "half a cup of lukewarm chai" (pictured). New Borders policy, or was she a vigilante anti-ice crusader? More »

Get 30% Off Borders.com
Thanks to their site being down for maintenance, you can get 30% off at Borders.com until midnight PST tonight, 7/12/10. More »

Borders's Bold New Business Strategy: Crazy Pricing
Troubled and experiencing a turnover in its leadership, perhaps Borders is trying a new strategy: completely illogical pricing. Hey, it works for Target. (Thanks to Asa in New York for the photo!)

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. More »

Waldenbooks Employees Protest Orders To Destroy Unsold Books
If you've ever worked in a bookstore, you're probably intimate with the practice of pulping mass market paperbacks. Publishers reimburse booksellers for inventory they don't sell, but paperbacks are so cheap to produce that it would cost more to return them than to throw them away. Instead, stores tear off the covers, mail those back as proof of unsold inventory, and throw the books in the trash. More »

Borders Gets Into Ebook Business, Relaunches Shortcovers As Kobo Books
Shortcovers, an ebook retailer that I recommended to a Sony Reader owner last month, has morphed into something called kobobooks.com, and it's now partially owned by Borders. If you own an ereader other than a Kindle, or if you read ebooks primarily on a smartphone, you might want to add it to your list of sources for ebooks. More »

Borders To Offer Free Wifi

—>Later this month, Borders and Verizon will roll out free Wifi access in "virtually all" Borders stores, with no password or access fee required. Borders' CEO Ron Marshall says their goal is to extend "the open atmosphere of exploration that is at the core of every great bookstore experience," and then he said something about building a community, yakkity yak. You know how press releases are. Whatever, Marshall, we're just happy you're offering free Wifi access!  More »

Is Borders About To Go Under?

—>Yesterday's post about Borders closing down its unprofitable CD and DVD sections prompted a tip from the owner of a small music label. He says his distributor has already cut off shipments to Borders once for nonpayment (in November 2008), and on Monday the distributor warned labels that they'll have to agree not to hold him "liable on any future shipments to Borders in case they file for bankruptcy." Borders' CFO left in January, which is rarely a good sign for a troubled company. And this morning, the Detroit Free Press notes that the bookseller is facing being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. We may not have to wait long to find out; CEO Ron Marshall is hosting a conference call with analysts and investors next week.  More »

Is Borders Shrinking Its CD And DVD Sections?

—>We received this tip from an alleged Borders employee today. According to this person, if you saw some yellow discount tags of 30% off DVDs and CDs in your local Borders store this weekend, it's a sign that they're closing out those sections except for top sellers. Expect to see much steeper discounts in the coming weeks. The full tip is copied below.  More »

Borders' has fired their CEO and replaced him with an Amazon Kindle. Ok, not really. They've replaced him with "Ron Marshall, a private equity executive with experience turning around ailing companies." Good luck, Ron. Remember, reading is FUNdamental! [NYT]  More »

Buried Under Books, Borders Goes Above and Beyond

—>Reader Katie writes to us with an amazing Borders customer service story, full of love, loss, credit, and a fiery inferno of possible death. Katie's letter inside.  More »

Borders gave a reader a coupon for $5 off any purchase of $5 or more. As our reader notes, "is this the right tactic for a struggling company to take?"  More »

Christmas Creep Confessions: We Played Christmas Music On Halloween

—>An anonymous reader, who works at a certain bookstore, says that her manager started playing Christmas music a week before Halloween... and on Halloween itself.  More »

These Toy Horses Are Also Educational

—>Ali writes, "I was at the Borders in Elk Grove, CA with my cousin when I noticed these toys in the section with iPod accessories and various other objects. The funny thing is, all the other packages behind it were exactly the same." Now you can learn about nature, and maybe pick up some new sexual slang, while you play horse farm!  More »

Borders Launches A Website With A "Magic Shelf"

—>Borders has finally decided to launch its own website (previously, its online business had been handled by Amazon.com). CEO George Jones says:  More »

Borders, the second largest bookstore chain, may try to sell itself to someone. [NYT]  More »

Borders is going to decrease its inventory by 5-10% in order to allow room for more books to be displayed with their covers face-out. Malcolm Gladwell will be so pleased. [Wall Street Journal]  More »

Borders Corporate Email Address Format

Should you ever have need to send email to a a bunch of people there, the format for Borders Group, which owns all the Borders iterations, Waldenbooks, Schulers Books, and Books Etc, is firstinitinalfirstsevenoflastname@bordersgroupinc.com.  More »

Congratulations, You've Earned $0.00 Borders Bucks!

—>Remember Allison? Borders refused to sell her a copy of Harry Potter without a plastic bag to serve as a proof of purchase. Allison recently received an email from Borders inviting her to print out a certificate to redeem $0.00 Borders Bucks. How lucrative wasteful. Allison writes:  More »

Borders' Popular Rewards Program Proves Both Too Popular And Too Rewarding

—> According to the Wall Street Journal, Borders rewards program is popular. Too popular. And too rewarding. In response, Borders is cutting back the benefits and introducing a new program that it describes as "now simpler than ever" and "a new program to celebrate."  More »

Borders Forces Customer To Take Plastic Bag, Claims It Is "Proof Of Purchase"

—>A Borders cashier wouldn't give Allison her copy of Harry Potter without a plastic bag. A mindful environmentalist, Allison refused, even after the cashier stated that the bag would serve as Allison's proof of purchase. When Allison pointed out the absurdity of using a bag as proof of purchase when she had a receipt, the cashier:

...rolled her eyes and said that if I didn't want the bag, I could throw it away as soon as I left the store. I exclaimed that that was certainly the least environmentally friendly thing anyone could do, and she just pushed my book, a bag, a poster and my receipt at me and said, "Next."

Allison's letter to Borders, and their response, after the jump.  More »

Borders, Waldenbooks Afraid Of Jihad

—>Borders and Waldenbooks have decided not to sell the April-May issue of Free Inquiry magazine because it republishes the Mohammed cartoons that provided an excuse for a bunch of medieval savages around the world to start burning down embassies, killing and rioting.  More »

Morning Deals Round-Up

• Woot's pushing their own wine again. As homebrewers, we have nothing but empathy for their project. As drunks, we find the price of $55 for three bottles buzz prohibitive.  More »