Why borders went out of business

Winter is Coming. Most Popular. Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell swap late-night shows, promote each other's movie. Switching Jimmys. After not finding a buyer, the financially-strapped bookstore chain decided to close. The fire sale could happen as soon as Friday. But Borders also made some bad management decisions that hastened the death.

Here are the biggest errors in judgment:. Deep Dive. Published Nov. By Corinne Ruff Reporter. Getty Images. Wannabuy, A snapshot of Borders' store footprint over the last decade before liquidation. SEC filing. The running list of major retail deals in Arhaus announced the pricing of its IPO of Subscribe to the Retail Dive free daily newsletter Email: Select Newsletter: Daily Dive Topics covered: retail tech, e-commerce, in-store operations, marketing, and more.

You can unsubscribe at anytime. Sign up A valid email address is required. Please select at least one newsletter. Company Announcements. View all Post a press release. From Genus AI. From Aptos. From Revionics. From EquipmentShare. Editors' picks. Latest in DTC. Borders stores took on a generic quality as executives and investors lacked the knowledge and patience to address the chains' mounting problems.

I'm sure there is more to this story especially in the financial and real estate areas than I know, but what really hurt Borders from the perspective of a book person like me was that the chain was no longer in the hands of true book retailers.

Len Riggio, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and the successful independent proprietors, whatever their other business virtues and flaws, really have a deep attachment to books and the people who read them. But when Borders expanded, they brought in executives from supermarkets and department stores all of whom insisted they were readers , and the result was a shuffle of titles and more downsizing against a backdrop of financial engineering, which only seemed to make matters worse.

Ultimately, a successful bookstore, on any scale, depends on a specific understanding of how to make the most of the outpouring of books and the digital transformation that will attract readers. Whatever else Borders does in the months ahead, it needs to recover its belief that real book-selling is an art with all the peculiarities that entails , as well as a viable business. Skip to content Site Navigation The Atlantic. Popular Latest. The Atlantic Crossword. Sign In Subscribe.