Borders Bankruptcy Filing Drawing Nearer

wsj.com:

Borders Group Inc. is in the final stages of preparing a bankruptcy filing, clinching a long fall for a company with humble beginnings that helped change the way Americans buy books but failed to keep pace with the digital transformation rocking every corner of the media landscape.

Read the whole story: wsj.com

Comments

[MyNameIsJames]

10:00 PM on 02/15/2011

I find myself very sad about Borders problems. During the early 1990's when I discovered them - they had great titles and a more left-leaning feel. Then they really went corporate- I noticed that their selections became more mainstream. Yet I have spent so many hours in Borders over the years and I hope to continue to go for a change of pace. Fortunately I live in an area that will probably maintain at least 4 or 5 in the region. I wish them the best.

[raven119]

10:26 AM on 02/15/2011

Borders Books was great.

Then it became Borders Books and coffee, then Borders Books and coffee and CDs, then Borders Books and coffee and CDs and DVDs, then Borders Books and coffee and CDs and DVDs and Games, then Borders Books and coffee and CDs and DVDs and Games and stuffed toys, then Borders Books and coffee and CDs and DVDs and Games and stuffed toys and greeting cards....

Somehow it lost its focus.

[aphextwin07]

01:42 PM on 02/15/2011

Regardless of their product offerings or focus, I'm sure it's just more of a generational shift at work... younger people these days aren't really into books with all the other technological distractions present in our society today.

[KvetchesByBoz]

04:32 PM on 02/17/2011

Oh, so true. Yours is pretty much the best description of Borders' downfall I've read thus far. T'was multimedia killed the beast. Also, corporate masters who took their inflated cut and hastened the inevitable market deflation slide didn't realize that literary fans want books and not box store fluff.