BORDERS

Former Borders headquarters in Ann Arbor sold

The Associated Press — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 14:34:24 +0000

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - The former Ann Arbor headquarters of bookstore chain Borders Group has been sold.

The Ann Arbor office of Colliers International tells The Detroit News that the buyer requested a confidentiality agreement, so no name was publicly disclosed. Colliers International is handling the sale.

The 330,000-square-foot headquarters was listed last year for $6.9 million.

With Borders gone, holiday sales up at many indie bookstores

Jennifer Guerra — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:07:16 +0000

Holiday sales appear to be up at most independent bookstores in Michigan, thanks in part to the fact that one of their major competitors is no longer around.

Borders, the now defunct big bookstore chain, was often accused of killing the independent bookstore. But those indie bookstores that remain are now reaping the benefits of Borders demise.

Closing the book on Borders' Ann Arbor store

Steve Carmody — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:22:19 +0000

Today, the doors will close for the final time at the Borders bookstore in Ann Arbor. It’s a significant milestone marking the final days of the Ann Arbor-based bookseller.

“Well it's so sad….we’ll miss’em…great store,” one longtime Borders customer said as she walked out the door of the bookseller's flagship store. That is the feeling of many people who stopped by the Borders store in Ann Arbor on its last day.

Books-a-Million to expand to Traverse City and 13 other locations

Jennifer Guerra — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:05:00 +0000

Update 9:30 a.m

Books-a-Million received the green light from a judge to take over 14 former Borders stores, including one in Traverse City. Publishers Weekly has the details on the deal:

Borders Books liquidation moving forward

Steve Carmody — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:47:14 +0000

What’s left on the shelves at your local Borders bookstore is expected to be gone in about another month. The liquidation sales have been going on for nearly a month at Borders 399 bookstores across the U.S., including the company’s 26 Michigan locations.

The Ann Arbor-based bookseller ended its fight to stay alive in July after repeated unsuccessful attempts to find a way out of bankruptcy-protection.

Talks fall through to buy 30 Borders stores

The Associated Press — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:00:05 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) - Bookstore chain Books-A-Million Inc. says its last-minute talks to buy the leases and assets of 30 Borders bookstores out of bankruptcy have fallen through.

Borders Group Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection in February, received court approval last week to liquidate its 399 stores. The chain said at the time it was talking to Books-A-Million about buying 30 store leases and inventory.

But Books-A-Million said Tuesday those talks were unsuccessful.

A group led by liquidation firms Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Group are now holding going-out-of-business stores at all Borders stores.

Birmingham, Ala.-based Books-A-Million operates 231 stores in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Borders is based in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Borders says goodbye after 40 years

Mark Brush — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:04:01 +0000

CEO Mike Edwards sent a goodbye note to customers today as going out of business sales start at Borders Book stores across the country.

In his note, Edwards explained why the company couldn't keep their doors open:

We had worked very hard toward a different outcome. The fact is that Borders has been facing headwinds for quite some time, including a rapidly changing book industry, the eReader revolution, and a turbulent economy. We put up a great fight, but regrettably, in the end, we weren't able to overcome these external forces.

Over the last decade, the company made many missteps that led to its demise. One of the most notable was the company's failure to invest early in online book sales. Analysts say other problems included being overextended in real estate holdings for the bookstores, and a lack of leadership.

The shuttering of the company means 10,700 will be out of a job. 400 here in Ann Arbor will lose their jobs at Borders Headquarters (a place that once had 1,800 workers).

We asked our Facebook friends what they will miss when the Borders bookstores are gone.

Why Borders Mattered

Jack Lessenberry — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:37:41 +0000

I was in my early twenties before I discovered Borders’, which then had been open for two or three years. The sensation when I first walked in was what I felt when I first visited the Library of Congress.

Overwhelming excitement, and despair. How could I ever possibly read all the books worth reading? You would need lifetimes to do it. Yet, here, at least, I could visit a sort of cathedral of the mind.

I remember how excited I was in my early thirties when Border’s opened its second store a stone’s throw from my first house in the Detroit suburbs. Another Borders, right here! I think I understood how people in Appalachia felt when the Tennessee Valley Authority brought them electricity, back in the nineteen-thirties.

I will soon be sixty, and before that, Borders will be gone. A last-ditch attempt to save the bookstores failed last week, when the creditors concluded they’d probably do better with just a straight liquidation than they might if the latest venture to save them failed.

There are all sorts of theories about why Borders couldn’t be saved. Some said e-readers, some said the Internet. Some say the stores expanded too fast and moved beyond their core competence of selling books. One man said he knew Borders would die the day he found himself buying skin moisturizer there.

Borders closes: 10,700 workers to lose jobs

Jennifer Guerra — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:53:37 +0000

After 40 years in the business, the national bookstore chain Borders has officially called it quits.

News roundup: Borders to go out of business

Zoe Clark — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:03:25 +0000

Borders Group Inc., the Ann Arbor-based bookstore chain, announced yesterday that it is closing after failing to find a buyer. Some stores will close as early as Friday. The liquidation of Borders is making headlines across the state and around the country:

NPR.org: Mich. book chain Borders closing after 40 years
The New York Times: Calling off auction, Borders to liquidate
AnnArbor.com: 10,700 jobs lost, 400 in Ann Arbor
Detroit Free Press: Borders to shut down for good after deal collapses
Detroit News: Final chapter for Borders; 10,700 workers to lose jobs

Meanwhile, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's office says the closing of Borders is more a reflection of publishing industry problems than a statement about Michigan's business climate, the Associated Press reports. From the AP:

His office says the fall of Borders marks the end of an important piece of Michigan history. Snyder is a former Ann Arbor businessman who was elected as a Republican in November.
Spokeswoman Geralyn Lasher says the Snyder administration will "want to look closely from the jobs perspective of people in the state."

Borders Books is going out of business

Jennifer Guerra — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:35:23 +0000

Borders Books is officially going out of business.

The Ann Arbor bookstore chain issued a statement this afternoon saying the company Hilco and Gordon Brothers will "purchase the store assets and start the liquidation process."

Borders Group President Mike Edwards:

Borders faces liquidation after lead bid falls through

Jennifer Guerra — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:39:49 +0000

It’s been a busy 24 hours for Ann Arbor-based Borders: The bankrupt bookstore chain has gone from having a potential buyer to talk of liquidation.

The auction to sell Borders is still scheduled for Tuesday, July 19^th. But the lead bidder, known as a "stalking horse," has pulled out. That bidder was Najafi, a private equity from Arizona a firm.

Borders agrees to sell itself for $215 million

Zoe Clark — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 10:21:23 +0000

Borders has agreed to sell itself to private investment firm Najafi Cos. for $215 million, reports the Associated Press. The agreement, however, is tentative. From the AP:

Najafi, which owns the Book-of-the-Month Club, will also assume $220 million in debt.
The agreement is tentative and what is known as a "stalking horse" bid for a company under bankruptcy protection. The bid will open an auction for the bookseller and its assets, so a higher bid is possible.
A bankruptcy court hearing on the deal is set for July 21. If the court does not approve an auction process, Borders filed a separate motion to liquidate.
Najafi has been a speculative suitor for the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company, although Borders has not previously confirmed any specific bidders.

Borders Group Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection in February.

Borders hoping for sale by end of July

Jennifer Guerra — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:57:13 +0000

Bankrupt Borders Group may have an interested buyer. The Ann Arbor-based bookstore chain plans to name a bidder by July first.

In a motion filed Friday at the United States Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York, Borders says the sale process has "gained significant momentum in recent weeks," and that the bookseller is "encouraged" that a successful buyer will emerge.

Borders given more time to come up with a reorganization plan

Mark Brush — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:10:51 +0000

When Borders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last February, it had until mid-June to submit its own reorganization plan. Now a judge has given the company an extension.

Joseph Checkler of the Wall Street Journal says such requests are routine:

A judge on Thursday gave Borders Group Inc. more time to control its own bankruptcy case, after a lawyer for the bookseller said the company hopes to have a plan in place to sell most or all of the company's stores by the end of the month.
A lawyer for Borders didn't rule out that the company could eventually come up with a plan to reorganize but said a plan to sell stores to a third party is more imminent. The company says it is in talks with "multiple buyers" interested in "most up to all" of Borders's remaining stores.
Judge Martin Glenn of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan approved the extension, a largely procedural move that gives Borders until October to file a reorganization plan and until December to solicit votes on that plan without having to worry about competing proposals from creditors or others.

The Journal reported that the private-equity firm Gores Group is interested in buying more than half the remaining 405 Borders Bookstores.

A lawyer for Borders said the company expects to announce a buyer in the next "two to four weeks."