The Obituary
Borders grew from an Ann Arbor bookstore into a national chain known for deep inventories and in-store cafes. It made two fatal misjudgments: from 2001 to 2008 it outsourced its online sales to Amazon, surrendering e-commerce to a competitor, and it expanded floor space for CDs and DVDs just as those formats collapsed into downloads and streaming. Late to e-readers and burdened with debt and unprofitable stores, Borders filed for bankruptcy in February 2011. Unable to find a buyer, it liquidated its remaining roughly 400 stores by September 2011, ending about 10,700 jobs.
Worth remembering
- From 2001 to 2008 it outsourced its entire online business to Amazon, ceding the digital market to its eventual killer.
- It bet heavily on CD and DVD floor space just as music and movies went digital.
Sources
- Borders filed for bankruptcy in February 2011 and liquidated its remaining stores by September 2011 Wikipedia
- Borders outsourced its online sales to Amazon from 2001 to 2008 The New York Times
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.