This is not a good sign in my book.

[temporus]

Seems like Borders may be looking to sell itself off.   This just on the heels of news about their new concept store?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080320/ap_on_bi_ge/borders_group_sale 

I'm not thrilled to hear of bookstores closing down.  Especially since I shop at Borders regularly.

Comments

[dqg-neal.livejournal.com]

You'd have thought they'd have consoldated finances and intended a turn around with the concept stores. I'm surprised to hear this so soon after the announcement.

[temporus.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering if its a case of: they were all ready in the works toward the new concept store, but then finances dropped faster than anticipated.

I remember talking about the Borders on 18 closing. I thought that was strange, considering how busy the Borders by me always seems to be. I mean, they have author signings just about every single week, and the parking lot is often quite full. Last I knew, from my iside informant, the store's numbers were always very good.

Maybe I'm just misreading that article, and this is a fancy type of corporate restructure, and they'll be back and strong in a year or so.

I was kind of hoping that we'd get one of those Concept stores here in NJ, just to see some it all first hand.

[booksherpa.livejournal.com]

Supposedly the East Brunswick store may open in a new location, and they just couldn't get an extension on their lease at their old location. I wouldn't hold my breath, though. That was an *old* store, and I'm not sure it had ever been seriously renovated, other than the cafe. It was store number 42. For perspective, Bridgewater is 94, and opened in November of 1994 (there's no relation between the store number and year it opened :) . Bridgewater has been getting the big signings for a couple of years now. Even before I left, they were starting to come. It's really some circular reasoning: if you do well with a big signing, you get more big signings. The trick is getting that first one, handling it well, and selling many many books. I think it started with Nicole Richie (laugh, but over 500 of her books sold that night) and has continued from there. They had Jodi Picoult recently, and apparently that was huge and went well. She's one of the first big popular fiction writers they've had; the other big signings have mostly been non-fiction. It's tough for NJ stores - authors go to NYC stores instead, and there's a big independent (Bookends in Ridgewood) that's been getting big authors for years.

[temporus.livejournal.com]

Had you heard about this new concept store?

http://www.bgimediacenter.com/ConceptMediaRoom.html

Yeah, I'd noticed Jodi Picoult on the list last time I popped in. Pretty wild. Of course, I know that some "smaller" authors have had challenges getting signings at local NJ stores. Including at least one being told that if they couldn't move a certain number of books (which sounded rather high, something like 500 you mention above) then its not worth it to the store to have you do a signing.

That's something I diagree with. Of course, I hope to have a dog in that fight from the other side one day, so I sure hope that there are more opportunuties for up and comers to get out in front of an audience than just for the all ready big name people.

[booksherpa.livejournal.com]

Oh, interesting! I'd heard about the concept store, but I hadn't seen any pictures yet. Hmmm. A few thoughts . . .

- Lots of nooks and crannies. Doing loss prevention (i.e. keeping an eye out for potential shoplifters) will be a pain.

- $9.99 for 7 songs in the media area? You can get 10 songs for that amount on iTunes. I'm not sure bookstore convenience justifies the extra cost. How many people have an MP3 player, but can't download music at home?

- Many many many faceouts. Faceouts sell books, but it looks like there's fewer titles on the shelves.

- Those look like 7-8 year olds at story time. The kids at mine were 4 and under, generally. Must be at night. :)

- The concept store employs over 75 people. That's more people than worked at my store during the Christmas season.

- It looks really nice inside. Bright, high-tech, inviting. I'd be curious to know how much random seating is sprinkled throughout the store, outside of the cafe.

- I'll be very curious to see the new Borders.com and how it's integrated with the stores. BN.com sells a lot of books, but doesn't seem particularly integrated with the stores.

I don't think Borders will go under - it's a different animal than Barnes and Noble or Books-A-Million. Someone will buy it before it goes bankrupt. They've also got sections to sell off. There's about 40 international stores they could dump for some working capital. Heck, if they're really all about the future of Borders, they could sell off Waldenbooks. It's certainly going to be some interesting times, though, and probably some frustratingly lean times before things get better. I still shop there, and have friends there, but right now I'm glad I'm not employed there any more.

[slobbit.livejournal.com]

Crap! Our Borders across from work just opened in December. They're much more convenient for my lunches than the Barnes & Noble off in the outside shopping center.

Plus, different selection.

[sci-o-biscuits.livejournal.com]

Not good news - I hadn't heard about this. What's left? B&N...anything else? There are still some small bookstores around, of course.

[temporus.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's dire straits just yet. But it certainly does not bode well for the future of options. As much as I like Amazon....if too much gets consolidated into one set of hands, well then you could end up with another Microsoft-like domination of a market. That does no one any good.