Borders in Trouble
Woah, I just plain forgot to post yesterday- UNACCEPTABLE. To atone I will post two (count ‘em) times today. As per usual, I’ll start off with some bad news.
According to this CNNMoney.com article, national book retailer Borders saw their stock plummet 35% during trading yesterday (and another 17% after hours). This was on a report that their long-rumored bankruptcy might happen next week.
Borders is losing out to Barnes and Noble for a number of reasons. For one, they have fewer locations nationwide which hinders their visibility. My own town of Des Moines Iowa has 2 Barnes and Noble locations: one is located in our best mall and the other is a grand freestanding two-story building in an upscale shopping plaza. We have one Borders sandwiched in a somewhat lower-class strip mall.
From my perspective, the #1 reason that Borders loses out is its long-term viability. E-books are the undeniable future of book publishing. Their e-Reader initiative is not nearly as defined or high-profile as Barnes and Noble. B&N’s Nook is easily a top-two technology. Sitting here, I can’t even name Borders’s answer e-reader. A quick look at their website shows that they do not have a standard Borders-branded e-reader. That’s a problem!
