I don’t remember the first time I entered a Borders. Seemed to me, my feet led me into bookstores every time I entered a mall. Bookstores in busy malls made sense. I’d go there when I needed something – say a new shirt or perhaps a movie fix – and a trip to the bookstore was inevitable. “I’ll just walk through a bit,” I’d think to myself. Right! Three or four books later, I’d leave the store. Sometimes I went to the mall just to hit the bookstore. Three or four books later – but no new shirt or movie fix – I’d leave the store.I was in a mall bookstore that I discovered LaVeryl Spencer. I told the clerk, “I want a historical with a teacher heroine.” It took her all of two seconds to scoot to the book Years, which I've now read three times.
Ten Things You Need to Know About Borders.
1. Borders originated from two brothers who, in 1971, opened their first store in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They soon opened more stores and their success came because they tried to make their stores offering fit the needs of the community. (Cool! Makes me think of the Poison Pen mystery bookstore here in Scottsdale, Arizona.)
2. In 1992, Kmart got ahold of Borders. They’d purchased Waldenbooks in 1984 and now they tried to merge the two. (I’m always a little sad when a mom and pop store goes the way of big box.)
3. In 2001, Borders teamed up with Amazon.com as a web-based delivery service. (Sounds like a good idea to me.)
4. 2003: Borders peak year with 1,249 stores (including Waldens).
5. In 2006, Borders was making money. (Some of it from me!)
6. In 2007, Borders ended its alliance with Amazon.com. (Hmmm.)
7. In 2007, Borders lost money.
· What? We need to sell on the Internet!
· What? People can find DVDs someplace else for less!
· What? Rent is how high!
· What? Who says we have much inventory!
· What? Whose coffee is this, really!
8 Did you notice how of the five bullet points above, only the first one had to do with actually putting a book in the hand of a consumer. (That would be me, a book lover and book reader)
9. In 2009, Former CEO George L. Jones received a severance package of $2.09 million. (I’ve tried doing the math. I haven’t made that yet, in my lifetime, and no, I’m not telling you how long I’ve been employed.)
10. 2011. Borders closes.
My research came from the following sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borders_Groupwikipedia.org/wiki/Borders_Group
http://www.quora.com/Borders-Books/Why-is-Barnes-and-Noble-performing-well-as-a-business-while-Borders-has-filed-for-bankruptcy
http://www2.wjbf.com/news/2011/jul/19/3/borders-seeks-approval-liquidate-close-stores-ar-2159491/
/19/3/borders-seeks-approval-liquidate-close-stores-ar-2159491/
2. In 1992, Kmart got ahold of Borders. They’d purchased Waldenbooks in 1984 and now they tried to merge the two. (I’m always a little sad when a mom and pop store goes the way of big box.)
3. In 2001, Borders teamed up with Amazon.com as a web-based delivery service. (Sounds like a good idea to me.)
4. 2003: Borders peak year with 1,249 stores (including Waldens).
5. In 2006, Borders was making money. (Some of it from me!)
6. In 2007, Borders ended its alliance with Amazon.com. (Hmmm.)
7. In 2007, Borders lost money.
· What? We need to sell on the Internet!
· What? People can find DVDs someplace else for less!
· What? Rent is how high!
· What? Who says we have much inventory!
· What? Whose coffee is this, really!
8 Did you notice how of the five bullet points above, only the first one had to do with actually putting a book in the hand of a consumer. (That would be me, a book lover and book reader)
9. In 2009, Former CEO George L. Jones received a severance package of $2.09 million. (I’ve tried doing the math. I haven’t made that yet, in my lifetime, and no, I’m not telling you how long I’ve been employed.)
10. 2011. Borders closes.
My research came from the following sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borders_Groupwikipedia.org/wiki/Borders_Group
http://www.quora.com/Borders-Books/Why-is-Barnes-and-Noble-performing-well-as-a-business-while-Borders-has-filed-for-bankruptcy
http://www2.wjbf.com/news/2011/jul/19/3/borders-seeks-approval-liquidate-close-stores-ar-2159491/
/19/3/borders-seeks-approval-liquidate-close-stores-ar-2159491/ Pamela Tracy's book Once Upon a Cowboy is available now - but, unfortunately, not at Borders.
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