Manager of Borders Downtown Crossing store in Boston store manager Don Durica told the Boston Herald that his store is definitely closing after being unable to renegotiate their lease. That store is one of the 51 on a list Borders provided to the bankruptcy court as locations they might liquidate to remain in compliance with their DIP financing. At the same time, Borders has emphasized in their filing and public statements that they hope they will need to close only some of those locations. In a supplementary motion on Thursday, the AlixPartners managing director who serves as Borders svp, restrucuting […]
Borders
Borders May Close Up to 51 More Stores to Avoid Defaulting On Latest Loans
As potential bidders emerge for more than 200 of Borders’ superstores in a deal the company hopes will close in the next two to four weeks, the retailer may need to close an additional 51 stores and liquidate assets to avoid defaulting on their debtor-in-possession loan in the meantime. According to a motion filed in court Thursday morning, the move may result in worse terms for creditors, since the closed stores would not be available for sale to a bidder–and at least some of them are stores that “buyers have indicated that they also wish to purchase.” Though Borders hasn’t […]
Wiley to Write off $9M in Bad Debt From Borders
Wiley won’t report its 3rd quarter earnings until March 10, but today the publisher stated they will write off a pre-tax bad debt expense of approximately $9m (or $6m after-tax) from Borders. According to the SEC filing, “This net charge represents the difference between Wiley’s outstanding receivable with Borders and our expectation of potential offsets and recoveries in the future, and existing reserves for this customer.” Wiley stopped shipping books to Borders in December, when the retailer first indicated it would delay paying vendors, and as such Wiley further states that “no additional charge or bad debt expense with respect […]
Distributor Tells Clients No Cash from Borders
Distributor IPG told clients in an e-mail (now cited on multiple websites) that Borders “tell us that they will not be paying us for two months due to anticipated excessive returns.” In the letter, clients were told that for new shipments to Borders, the distributor will guarantee only the actual printing cost of those books, for as long as “there are serious concerns about Borders viability.” IPG president Mark Suchomel tells us that “almost all of the clients” have instructed the company to continue shipping orders to Borders. He notes that “we’ve typically been very conservative and that’s been a […]
Borders Gets Behind LACE READER
With Barnes & Noble pushing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Borders is focusing on Brunonia Barry’s THE LACE READER by “treat[ing] the book as an immediate bestseller” with deep discounts, a 25-minute Borders Book Club video of the author and seven book club members playing on Borders.com, in-store book club discussion guides, and “Original Voices” placement as well. The chain says in a release “thousands of booksellers throughout the retailer’s stores nationwide have been receiving information about The Lace Reader for weeks so that they can personally recommend the title to customers looking for a great read.” […]