Why borders went bankrupt

The Borders brothers began licensing their inventory system and began to expand to locations in Michigan and around Philadelphia. I especially remember a night in at the height of the presidential primary season when a Borders events coordinator filled an auditorium in downtown Philadelphia by featuring political books I was publishing: a model for how a store could become a venue for public engagement and customer loyalty. In retrospect, that was when the trouble began. Kmart already owned Walden mall stores, which were an awkward commercial fit with the Borders culture.

Kmart itself was at the start of a downward spiral, and in Borders was spun off in an IPO. For a time, the newly named Borders Group seemed to be working.

The losers were the local independents who couldn't keep up with the marketing and promotional resources of these national corporations. It was also in the mid s that Amazon launched as an online book retailer and Borders made what, in retrospect, was a serious strategic mistake. This global expansion seems to have blurred the focus on Borders' business in the United States. Ultimately, the international strategy failed. Borders also was slower than it should have been in adapting new techniques for marketing.

I was startled to find, on a visit to Borders in Madison, Wisconsin, in , that the store still had no Internet access, instead channeling all communications through Ann Arbor. Working with Borders staff in an effort to introduce multi-platform e-books and downloadable audio into their planning, I spent hours in conference calls that went nowhere.

Borders online sales were an affiliate of Amazon, which seemed pointless, given Amazon's own aggressive growth. The daily business briefing: November 12, Business briefing. Belarus threatens to cut off Europe's Russian gas amid escalating tensions. Winter is Coming. Inflation is hitting young families hard. The daily business briefing: November 11, All closings will be superstores, and about 6, jobs will be affected, the company said. It has the option of closing up to in all, according to court documents.

The closings will start by Saturday. The company said it will honor gift cards. Borders operates stores, including about superstores as well as more than smaller Waldenbooks locations. Almost all of the stores closed by the company in recent years were Waldenbooks locations. There is no question about it.