Borders announced yesterday that they have extended the deadline by one month on both the repayment of their $42.5 million senior secured term loan to Pershing Square, as well as the “put” to require Pershing to purchase their Paperchase subsidiary for $65 million. Both deadlines have been extended to February 16. In late November when reporting quarterly earnings Borders said they were “in discussions with Pershing Square regarding an alternative financing transaction.” The nearly worthless stock has still managed to decline another 20 percent in early trading today, though Barnes & Noble has suffered weak trading the past two days […]
Bookstores
Another Portland Store Faces Closing
Portland, Oregon’s Twenty-Third Avenue Books is the latest longstanding independent store to put out a call for help as they approach their twenty-ninth anniversary. In “a call for help this holiday season,” the store writes that “we’re wondering if that date [the January 1 anniversary] will be the final closing of our beloved shop.” They note: “We’ve all been affected by the current state of the economy, like so many of our fellow independent bookstores, and Twenty-Third Avenue Books is no different; we’re behind in our rent and facing eviction. With no funds to relocate, such a state of affairs […]
Bookstore Worker Held for Embezzlement
Forty-three-year old Anna Susan Kosak was charged with embezzling $348,975 from Quail Ridge Books & Music over the past seven years. The News Observer says she was the bookstore’s bookkeeper until September. General manager Sarah Goddin said they missing money “went undetected because it disappeared over a long period of time.” Co-owner Nancy Olsen says their sales are about $3.4 million a year. “We’re shocked,” Olsen said after the arrest. “We felt a professional closeness with her. We thought a lot of her.” She adds, We thought we were watching our every dollar. I guess we weren’t.” Olsen notes that […]
Harper Studio Finds a Taker for Nonreturnable Books: Borders
Borders will buy books from the Harper Studio imprint at a deeper discount of 58 percent to 63 percent off, on a nonreturnable basis. Borders evp of merchandising and marketing Rob Gruen repeats the company’s expressed position since George Jones took over: “The idea of taking inventory and then shipping it back isn’t a good idea for anybody. We’re open to all publishers to discuss alternatives to the traditional return model.” WSJ
Rep Group Expands Electronic Ordering Tool for eCatalog Age
The non-profit professional association of commission book reps (National Association of Independent Publishers Representatives) is revamping its data service to create a “one-stop catalog-order data-management system” launching in late January (presenting fall 2009 lists). Designed to complement publishers’ move to e-catalogs, their Frontlist Plus Universal product promises “file-format translation compatible with a variety of proprietary inventory-control systems and other industry platforms.” The NAIPR asks, “Why should publishers, when developing e-catalogs, for example, have to individually reinvent the order processing piece? We encourage publishers to focus on rich content presentation rather than item-file population and ordering mechanics.” The data is free […]
Portland's Feminist Non-Profit Bookstore In Trouble
Portland, Oregon’s In Other Words bookstore, which has a “feminist and queer bent,” is in “a crisis situation” according to program director Katie Carter. “We looked at our financial situation and realized it was much more dire than it has ever been in the past. Book sales are “down significantly from previous years, and it looks like it’s going to continue that way.” The board needs to raise $11,000 or close in early January.Blog post