Borders Company Case Study: Borders Group, Inc

1. Background of Borders Group, Inc.
Borders Group, Inc., founded in 1971, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was an international retailer. Borders Group was involved in the business of operating books, music and movie superstores and mall-based bookstores.. The company 's vast chain of stores had enabled it to increase its customer base and thus boost its revenue (Datamonitor, 2008). As of January 30, 2010, the company operated 511 Borders superstores and employed approximately 19,500 in the U.S. However; the retailingbusiness is highly competitive. The Company faces competition from big merchandisers, such as Walmart and Costco with a stronger financial base and better resources (Datamonitor, 2008).

2. The strength of Borders during its successful

The company also operated 705 mall-based and other bookstores primarily under the Waldenbooks name in the US and 35 bookstores under the Books etc. name in the UK. In addition, as of January 2005, the company owned and operated UK-based Paperchase Products Limited (Paperchase), a designer and retailer of stationery, cards and gifts, with 72 locations, including 28 located inside Borders International superstores. Borders Group also operates multiple seasonal businesses, as well as small-format Borders stores, in airports and outlet shopping centers. The company 's vast chain of stores has enabled it to increase its customer base and thus boost its

This increase was primarily due to the decrease in merchandise costs, improved vendor terms in the UK and the weakening of the US dollar. The company also opened five international superstores in 2004, and expects to open 10 to 12 international superstores in 2005, primarily in the UK and Australia. In April, 2005, Borders Group opened its first franchise with 7,500,000 square feet store with Malaysia 's Berjaya Group Berhad in Kuala Lumpur. (Datamonitor, 2008)

3. Analyze why and how did the company fail
November 26, 2009, Borders (UK) Ltd was placed into administration, which is the equivalent to Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US. In July 2011, The Company was liquidated, meaning sold off in pieces and almost 11,000 employees will lose their jobs. The chain 's 400 remaining stores will close their doors by the end of September.

3.1 It made a fatal deal with Amazon
In 2001, Borders cut a deal with Jeff Bezos & Co. to have Amazon.com run its website, which may have been the beginning of the end. Divorced from its online component, Borders continued to expand its brick-and-mortar locations until, finally in 2008, the bookseller debuted its own website. Too late: Amazon had already gobbled up a massive chunk of online market share and released the first