Borders Bookstore: Out Of Cash? (POLL)

Is Borders out of cash? Going under? In early December they announced they might make a play to buy Barnes & Noble. The end of 2010 brought a liquidity crisis in which the company decided to delay payments to some vendors. The fallout has begun and Reuters reported that Jed Lyons, Chief Executive of Rowman & Littlefield said just after ceasing shipments to Borders,

When a customer of that size calls you up and says you aren't getting a check, that's a piece of information you have to act on.

Publishers Marketplace writes as well:

Borders spokesperson Mary Davis confirms our report from Thursday based on discussions with some of those vendors that the Borders executive team will be in New York this week to negotiate with the publishers whom they owe money. (While the company is in continuing discussions over replacement financing, Davis says this week's New York meetings are focused on publishers only.)

Will other vendors and publishers follow, or will they opt to keep their books out where consumers can see them?

Borders has reported losses three quarters in a row now and has closed a number of stores. Will the chain survive 2011? With all these closings, where are you buying books these days?

Quick Poll

Where are you buying books these days?

Borders

Local Indie Store

Barnes & Noble

I'm only buying eBooks

Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll

Comments

[jt1980]

11:07 PM on 01/06/2011

It's really a pity. A Barnes & Noble near my home is closing its door, and now with Borders chain in life support, I wonder when the Borders store near my home will close its door too. I hope not, as it usually has a lot of people especially during weekends. ebooks are good, but the software interface to browse through an ebook on all e-readers I owned (Kindle & nook color) and tried (Kobo, Sony) are all pitiful. I cannot do things like flipping partway through the book, looking at some pictures, then looking up in the indexes to see if where the subjects are discussed, and flip the pages to read some passages from the relevant sections. With a physical book, I can do the whole thing in a few minutes. With an e-book? I can't because there is no way of flipping through the pages to find the picture pages. Some ebooks do have indices of images, but I have to find the indices first! I have come to the conclusion that e-books are good for reading fictional work, but for scientific books, physical books are the way to go.

[Barbara Cutschall]

01:45 PM on 01/04/2011

I was sad to see how few people shop independent book shops! "Break The Chains, Shop Independent!"

[deepintheheartoftejas]

08:07 PM on 01/06/2011

There aren't any good ones left. I shop at Borders on occasion, but mostly I buy my books from either Amazon (mainstream) or via Abe Books (speciality, esp. music history).

[jt1980]

11:10 PM on 01/06/2011

The closest independent bookshop that I know of is 12 miles from my home. All others (closer) have closed at least 10 years ago after Amazon.com came into existence. I always believe that it was Amazon.com that really killed the independent bookstores. None of the big chains showed up within 10 miles of my home well into the 2000s.

[born 2b different]

12:19 PM on 01/04/2011

Borders Books on life support. Prognosis: Death spiral.

[whyus]

08:43 PM on 01/03/2011

Barnes & Noble just closed its doors in downtown Portland. Of course, it had to compete with Powell's.

[deepintheheartoftejas]

10:55 PM on 01/06/2011

I could see going to B&N if I lived in Portland. Every time I'm in the city and stop at Powell's, hours disappear, and then I emerge with $300 worth of books I then I have pack in extra luggage to get home.

[FinallyFreeOfGeorgeIII]

07:34 PM on 01/03/2011

Hold on. You mean they actually have books at Borders?