America's second book chain Borders bankrupt

Borders, the second largest book store chain in the US, will go bankrupt after its Chapter 11 status could not save the company. 399 giant book stores will be liquidated starting Friday.

Huge stores, huge strategic miscalculations

Dropping book sales and especially the chain’s incapability to cope with this reality have caused the 40 year old retailer to collapse. To compensate the lower sales, Borders filled its stores with music, candy and gifts, but to no avail. The weakened book store giant had filed for Chapter 11 status in February, but as no other company was prepared to take over Borders. 

Borders, most famous for the huge size of its stores (2300 m²), faced an ever growing competition of web shops and e-books, just like market leader Barnes & Noble – while e-retailer Amazon has been one of America’s fastest growing companies for years. In the Benelux too, leading chains like Paagman have gone bankrupt, while others – like Selexyz – have announced significant cost cuts to avoid joining the former’s fate. Still, the online sales of books are just a fraction of the total market (4% in Belgium, 11% in the Netherlands).