The StreetInsider is reporting that Borders is heavily refuting a report by DebtWire.com, and is not paying smaller publishers in a delayed fashion.
In addition, they claim not to have been contacted by any consortium of publishers, as the article alleged. Apparently, the law firm of Lowenstein Sandler is disputing that they have been retained by publishers to advise against a possible Borders bankruptcy.
Which begs the question - which said is blatantly lying, and will there be any legal fallout as a result of this?
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Have a look at http://community.livejournal.com/iworkatborders for an insiders view of working at Borders - it aint pretty. I used to work for a (failed) book retailer in my country of origin & recognise some of these symptoms...
ReplyDeleteOf course you tend to only see the worst of the worst in that type of a forum, but it certainly doesn't sound good based on the volume. Turning things around from a service perspective would likely involve a large investment.
ReplyDeleteA recent example of a company seemingly heading the opposite way is Ruby Tuesday - featured recently in the New York Times -
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/business/08ruby.html
But then, they maintain a 35,000 square foot building with cubicles, test kitchens, classrooms and 370 staff. If you read the article, you see the commitment they are making towards customer service, and it doesn't sound cheap. The problem is, if cash flow is a problem, than a major investment like that sounds expensive.
That might explain why they are reselling eReaders (first Sony, now Alex) and partnering for the eBook store rather than developing them.
It will be interesting to see, and a shame - it was bad enough when the Mom and Pop stores started disappearing. Now we have to worry that the stores that steamrolled them might go to. It may be that Walmart sells books - but that's no way to buy a book!