Is There Life After Borders? In Pennsylvania, YES!

By now most people know Borders is going, going, gone in the very near future.  The departure of Borders from many malls has book lovers everywhere scrambling for a new place to buy books.

Books-A-Million is looking to fill that void, at least in some Pennsylvania locations.  Recently Books-A-Million opened a new store in a former Borders Express at Coventry Mall, Pottstown.  I also noticed in my last trip to Park City Center, Lancaster that Books-A-Million had opened a store there too.

Now Books-A-Million, a Birmingham, Alabama based bookseller, is trying to acquire eight more locations in Pennsylvania (there are currently five PA stores).  One site under consideration is the soon to be vacant Viewmont Mall Borders store in Dickson City.  According to the Times Tribune, the Dickson City Borders is Lackawanna County‘s only general-interest bookstore.

You can imagine that the Viewmont Mall management and Lackawanna County book lovers are waiting with bated breath to see if this deal goes through.

To check out Books-A-Million’s complete list of locations from their website, click here: http://www.booksamillion.com/storefinder?id=5114383831772

With the demise of Borders, Books-A-Million will become the nation’s second largest book retailer.

Borders Going Out Of Business!!!!

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The long decline of bookseller Borders Group is finally coming to an end.  It was announced Monday, July 18th, that the chain’s remaining 400 stores will all close and nearly 11,000 employees will lose their jobs.

The sale of Borders to Najafi Companies fell through after creditors objected to part of the $435 million deal.  Books-A-Million, the nation’s third-largest book retailer, may be interested in purchasing a few of the locations (30).

Borders was the second-largest bookstore chain in the U.S.

Coventry Mall Borders Express Closing!!

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For whatever reason, the Coventry Mall Borders Express store is not listed on the Pennsylvania store closing list.  However, after walking around Coventry Mall this morning, the Borders Express store has a final closing sale sign in the window.  It says this location only, which I thought was rather odd since Borders is closing hundreds of stores nationwide.

So there is your alert Pottstown area shoppers.  Borders Express at Coventry mall is closing.  I believe the sign said up to 75% off.  If you want to get some cheap books, you better head over soon!  It will not be open much longer.

Borders Adds 26 More Stores To Chapter 11 Closing List

Here is the list of Borders stores closing in Pennsylvania taken from their website.  The Philadelphia store was just added Thursday, March 17^th.

Camp Hill, PA	Capital City Commons		3515 Gettysburg Road
Erie, PA	Millcreek Pavilion		2088A Interchange Rd
King of Prussia, PA	The Pavilion at King of Prussia		650 Mall Blvd.
Langhome, PA	Marketplace at Oxford Valley		2343 E. Lincoln Highway
Monroeville, PA		200 Mall Blvd
Philadelphia, PA (closing by late May 2011)		1 South Broad, Suite 100
Pittsburgh, PA	Crossgates Shopping Center		1775 North Highland Road
Pittsburgh, PA	Eastside Shopping Center		5986 Penn Circles South, Ste 101
Reading, PA	Woodmill Commons		1075 Woodland Rd
Whitehall, PA	Whitehall Mall		1937 Whitehall Mall

For a complete list of store closures nationwide:

http://media.bordersstores.com/pdf/Borders_Reorg_Closure_Listupdated3-17.pdf

Borders announced July 18th that it was going out of business and closing their remaining 400 stores after finding a buyer fell through.

Borders Bookstores File For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

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Borders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York on Wednesday.

Borders is hemorrhaging cash at the rate of $2 million dollars a day from underperforming stores.  Borders intends to close 200 of its 642 stores nationwide.  The closures will come in the next few weeks.  Clearance sales could start as early as this weekend.

Borders will receive $505 million in debtor-in-possession financing from GE Capital Partners and others to help with the reorganization.  Borders owes over $100 million to various publishers.  Book sales nationwide fell 5 percent in 2010.  Borders controls 14.3 percent of the book selling market.  Barnes & Noble, on the other hand, controls 29.8 percent of the market which is helping them survive the economic downturn.

Borders has been in business since 1971, when it started out with one used bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Borders was owned by Kmart Corp. from 1992 until 2006.  Borders committed a fatal error when it opted out of their e-commerce contract with Amazon.com in 2001.  This decision made it possible for Barnes & Noble to eventually double Borders market share.