Borders Group to close approximately 200 mall stores in January 2010

Posted on: Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:05:00 EST


Symbols: BGP
Nov 06, 2009 (Datamonitor via COMTEX) --
BGP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- US-based specialty book retailer Borders Group has announced that as part of its ongoing strategy to right-size its Waldenbooks Specialty Retail segment and emerge with a smaller mall chain in fiscal 2010, it will close approximately 200 mall stores in January 2010, leaving up to 130 mall-based locations open.

The announcement does not include Borders superstores or the company's seasonal mall kiosk business, which includes over 500 Day by Day Calendar units, among other mall-based retail concepts, the company said.

Stores that remain open will be integrated into the Borders superstore computer system, an investment Borders Group is making to merge all stores to a single platform, added Borders Group.

With the store closings in January 2010, approximately 1,500 positions, the majority of which are part-time jobs, will be eliminated.

Ron Marshall, CEO of Borders Group, said: "America has a number of malls that continue to do well and draw customer traffic even in the current economy. We believe there remains an opportunity to profitably operate a much smaller Waldenbooks segment that complements our core Borders superstore business and continues to serve readers in their communities.

"Through this right-sizing, we will reduce the number of stores with operating losses, reduce our overall rent expense and lease-adjusted leverage and generate cash flow through sales and working capital reductions."

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