Borders in bankruptcy, will close 200 stores

borders.gi.top.jpgBorders will close 30% of its stores after filing for bankruptcy protection. By Aaron Smith, staff writer


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Borders Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and plans to close 200 of its stores and reduce its staff, the nation's second-largest book retailer said Wednesday.

"It has become increasingly clear that in light of the environment of curtailed customer spending, our ongoing discussions with publishers and other vendor related parties, and the company's lack of liquidity, Borders Group does not have the capital resources it needs to be a viable competitor," the company said in a statement.

"As we do close down the stores, ultimately there will be a reduction in employees," said Borders spokesman Donald Cutler. But he didn't say how many workers would lose their jobs.

Borders ranks just behind Barnes & Noble (BKS, Fortune 500) among the nation's book store chains. It currently has 659 stores and employs nearly 20,000 workers, including 5,842 full-time employees, both regular and temporary, and 13,661 part-time employees, said Cutler.

The company said it is closing 200 stores in 35 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.,

Wall Street has been expecting the filing from the struggling company.

"This decisive action will give Borders the opportunity to achieve a proper infusion of capital in order to have the opportunity to have the time to reorganize in order to reposition itself to be a successful business for the long term," said Borders Group president Mike Edwards, in a press release.

Borders said it has received a commitment for $505 million in "debtor-in-possession financing" from GE Capital's Restructuring Finance division.

Borders said it will close its most under performing stores in the next several weeks, a decision based on "economic conditions, cost structures and vitality of locations."

The company said the remaining stores "will continue to run in normal course." To top of page

Just the hot list include
Frontline troops push for solar energy
The U.S. Marines are testing renewable energy technologies like solar to reduce costs and casualties associated with fossil fuels. Play
25 Best Places to find rich singles
Looking for Mr. or Ms. Moneybags? Hunt down the perfect mate in these wealthy cities, which are brimming with unattached professionals. More
Fun festivals: Twins to mustard to pirates!
You'll see double in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Ketchup lovers should beware in Middleton, WI. Here's some of the best and strangest town festivals. Play
Index Last Change % Change
Dow 32,627.97 -234.33 -0.71%
Nasdaq 13,215.24 99.07 0.76%
S&P 500 3,913.10 -2.36 -0.06%
Treasuries 1.73 0.00 0.12%
Data as of 6:29am ET
Company Price Change % Change
Ford Motor Co 8.29 0.05 0.61%
Advanced Micro Devic... 54.59 0.70 1.30%
Cisco Systems Inc 47.49 -2.44 -4.89%
General Electric Co 13.00 -0.16 -1.22%
Kraft Heinz Co 27.84 -2.20 -7.32%
Data as of 2:44pm ET
Sponsors

Sections

Bankrupt toy retailer tells bankruptcy court it is looking at possibly reviving the Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brands. More

Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford charts her career path, from her first job to becoming the first openly gay CEO at a Fortune 500 company in an interview with CNN's Boss Files. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.