According to the Wall Street Journal, Borders will file for bankruptcy next week. Borders will try to reach agreements with creditors that would keep its stores open during the Chapter 11 restructuring process. The company will also close about a third of its Borders and Waldenbooks stores. Borders has not revealed which stores will be closed, but I have a feeling the company will closed all four of its stores in the Portland metro area (Beaverton, Tigard, Gresham, and Vancouver). I’m basing this feeling mainly on what happened with Mervyns four years ago. As us Portlanders know, Mervyns closed all their stores in Oregon and Washington about 18 months before the company announced it will liquidate its assets and close all its remaining locations.
If all goes well, Borders will emerge out of bankruptcy quickly. However, I wouldn’t bet on it. Borders and many other book retailers have been hit hard by online retailers (like Amazon) and digital e-book readers (like the Kindle and the NOOK). Earlier this week, Powell’s Books already announced it will lay off some of their employees. If Borders can’t reach a deal with its creditors, it will have to liquidate its assets and close all its stores. Bye-bye, Borders.
If you have a Borders or Waldenbooks gift card, then you better used the gift cards soon in case the stores close for good. If the liquidators come in, I have no idea if the liquidators will honor the Borders gift card. BTW, if you are a Borders Rewards member, you can use this 40% off Borders coupon (good through February 14, 2011). You can also use this Borders.com promo code: BGU1523U
Update: looks like Oregon will be spared from any store closures. Here’s the list of states with Borders closures: Alaska (1), Arkansas (1), Arizona (8), California (35), Colorado (6), Connecticut (6), District of Columbia (2), Florida (16), Georgia (5), Hawaii (2), Illinois (16), Indiana (6), Kansas (2), Kentucky (2), Louisiana (2), Massachusetts (6), Maryland (3), Michigan (4), Minnesota (4), Missouri (6), Montana (1), North Carolina (5), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (4), New Mexico (2), Nevada (1), New York (9), Ohio (7), Oklahoma (2), Pennsylvania (9), Puerto Rico (2), Tennessee (1), Texas (10), Utah (2), Virginia (5), Washington (2) and Wisconsin (4).
