Borders

kochu · Post by **kochu** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 9:47 am

Borders heading for bankruptcy..

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/ ... 7020110201

Kochu/2-2-11

Post by **Airconvent** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 11:21 pm

Let's hope they survive. Not that many mega bookstores left.
But I think its a losing battle if they do not restructure away from running their store like a library. I see many children read books on the floor instead of their parents buying for them and the books's condition are no longer fit for sale. Too many browsers and too little buyers.... [smilie=angel2.gif]

shirox · Post by **shirox** » Thu Feb 03, 2011 12:21 am

Yeah man, they even put chairs in the magazine areas. Not that its bad for us, but doing a business like that i seriously how they survive the overheads in SG.

kochu · Post by **kochu** » Thu Feb 03, 2011 9:57 am

More than what Rich mentioned, I think the likes of Borders are losing out to the digital revolution .

Kochu/3-2-11

wintertriangle22 · Post by **wintertriangle22** » Thu Feb 03, 2011 12:50 pm

I think books will always be around, just like libraries do not close down - because of internet. Just Borders is
trimming itself , to reduce overheads like many businesses do once a while

superiorstream · Post by **superiorstream** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 1:12 pm

Hi,All
Do inform us if they have any closing down offer on astro and science books to benefit our small astro community.Good reference books are hard to come by in Spore as most bookstore only sell text books or story books---for the few who are actually interested in knowledge for knowledge sake this place is a desert and with borders closed situation is even dryer/worst.

Post by **Airconvent** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 1:42 pm

When large American companies file for bankruptcy, its does not mean the end of the company. Usually it just means the company needs court protection from creditors so that they can have more time to plan and implement a recovery strategy.
Those turnaround strategies may involve cutting loss-making units to cutting manpower cost for the profitable ones.
Anyone knows if the Singapore branch is making money? That will detemine if it is closing. Also, even if they are moving out of Singapore, their operations may be bought over by Kino, MPH or Time too looking for a cheap and fast way to expand their operation. [smilie=cool.gif]

Post by **acc** » Sun Feb 06, 2011 2:27 am

Boy that is sad news. I was so excited when Borders opened its first store here in 1997; Times and MPH have such a limited range and their stores just feel so outdated and lame in comparison.

The Borders store in Orchard is doing quite well I think; I remember a ST article which states that it grosses #1 in revenue (or revenue per square foot) among all borders stores worldwide. Hope they survive here.

timatworksg · Post by **timatworksg** » Sun Feb 06, 2011 11:05 am

Biggest fears would be if US decides to cut back then they may pull out their international branches...unless the ones here in SG can rake in some cash which they desperately need!

Sad when they had to take a Loan with the clause that they close down several chains. Bad planning or bad marketing.
I can see Ebooks replacing most novels and normal reading material. But nothing beats a Good Ol'e SOLID hardback reference, weigh a TON, book which you spend on and hardly read..haha!

Border's did fill the niche where Times and MPH left off with a better range of reading material. I like borders for their kids books and magazines.
But for more professional tittles and better reference material I have to give this to Kinokuniya who carries the professional end material from the other publications. I will confess, I can spend $300+ sometimes at Kino!! Thankfully it's once in awhile..children's, wife's and my stuff!