I really don’t usually write blog entries on these sorts of topics, but due to receiving some honest commentary on my blogging of the local Wayne Borders bookstore closing from friends and one knowledgeable individual, I decided to blog an update report on some inside information I overheard while standing in line of the Wayne Borders today.
According to a cashier in the Wayne Borders, Borders is not the only store closing. All of Wayne Towne Center, except for Fortunoff and JC Penny, is being shut down and demolished.
Now, I was never a big fan of the stores in this cluster, but somehow I don’t think that this includes TGI Fridays either. I believe this individual was referring to the building that houses Borders and everything within it. The knowledgeable commentator I spoke of, rinosatrot, offered some additional information regarding Borders as an “unprofitable business.”
Books aren’t going out of style; Borders is just an unprofitable business. They reported a huge 161.1 million dollar loss for those three months alone. (See the 2007 third quarter results.)
The last time I attempted to look up sales results of a company, I had a hard time finding it plastered on the internet somewhere. When offered so openly, there is no way for me to doubt this information, but it seems that the reason for this particular Borders to go down under is more than just profit loss. Also, this makes me wonder that if Borders has been financially suffering like this, what could they possibly be doing wrong that Barnes and Noble is doing right? One possible angle I see is if perhaps the bourgeois atmosphere of B&N maybe has more appeal than Borders’ casual, kick-your-shoes-off model.
I should also mention that while strolling Willowbrook Mall this same day, I heard one guy say “What’s with all the stores closing down?” At that particular moment, him and I were crossing paths in front of what once was Suncoast. The inside of the store was stripped bare and boxes were stacked atop one another.
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2008-01-21 at 17:46:04
Kayuri
Mmmhmm… sounds like the same thing that happened to the mall where the Borders Express was… but, it was only one huge building, the mall officials announced that 4 months, and they renovated everything, but when it re-opened the majoreverything was going to be closed for aboutity of stores were closed, and still are. So now the mall is really big, but with nothing in it… just black plastic coverings over entrances of would-be stores… they took out the food court, too… T_T but in turn, they had tons of other buildings built around it with the stores that the mall didn’t have, so it kind of made up for it… you just have to walk farther >_>
As for Borders being “an unprofitable business,” I somehow find that hard to believe… it’s true that Borders is more casual, and that Barnes & Noble seems to have the stately and dignified air, but to attract more modern customers of this day and age, I feel that a more casual place such as Borders would be the preferable choice… It’s quite odd, no? Of course, I have no knowledge in financial issues at my age… but I would have never imagined that Borders would have a dollar loss that’s over 150 mil. It seems like a profitable business… it just seems out-there to me… ._.” Being a kid sucks…
2008-01-22 at 00:23:14
Kou
Whoa, Suncoast too? Yea, we definitely lost all reason to be in that mall. ::sigh:: such good times too…remember? ::DDR, sweat, eat some Chinese or Japanese food at the court, duel, carouse and window shop the video game stores, play some more video games, and crash at boarders to write and draw until your mom came to pick us up:: XD good times…good times…
Seriously though, we require a new establishment for our headquarters…IMMEDIATELY. -_-
2008-01-23 at 20:11:59
storymode
@ Kayuri: I have been given some valuable information from the commentator Jennifer J. in regards to what will be happening to this cluster I reported on. They have no plans of leaving it shut down like they did with yours.
I share your opinion of Borders. However, as odd as it seems, I think everyone wants to feel like they are someone more important than they really are, and places like Barnes and Noble cater to that artificial atmosphere of being “high class” so to speak.
Don’t worry about financial mumbo-jumbo either. It’s not about your age, but about what you are taught and exposed to. You know my age, and I am not very knowledgeable either. Enjoy being young while you can.
@ Kou: Yeah, those were easy-going times indeed. Since upscale dining seems to be on the “menu” for this area, we do require a new headquarters…like my own apartment.
2009-08-23 at 16:22:15
Informer
Just for information. The Wayne Towne Center will soon be sold off to another holding company due to a lack of funds. The current holding company miss spent funds and is now in the hole for millions.
Dicks which was supposed to be a freestanding building located where the old Old Navy was situated. Dicks will not be coming because the stipulation was that there need to be two anchor stores. Since Fortunoff went out of business Dicks wanted a large percentage of their rent reduced. They didn’t get it so they left. So millions have been spent on hammering in telephone poles into the foundation, rebar work and pouring in concrete only for a building that is not coming.
Oh what about the building which was supposed to house Ulta Cosmetics, Motherhood, The Malls Loss Prevention Office and The Art Gallery. I guess that won’t be built too since demolition on Fortunoff has not even started yet. And who knows how much the demolition is going to cost since the building is riddle with asbestos.
Now let’s talk about who is suing the holding company. Well lets see. First there’s March Contracting who now has a lean on the entire property, then there is a small paving company (which I will abstain from using their name) who is owed money, another contractor who plows the mall who has not been paid.
Mibo a cleaning company who had been cleaning the mall for years was recently told to hit the road. So the mall hired two eighty year old men to walk around the mall parking lot in eighty degree whether to pick up garbage. Don’t believe me? They are there just about everyday. Go take a look for yourself.
Ah yes then there’s Valor Security who has been protecting the mall for years. Now they too have been given the boot because the holding company owes Valor over $80,000. So the hard working security guards who have family to support were given half a weeks notice. Nice huh? So you might ask who then is protecting the mall? Well since the holding company had no choice but to have security on property (since the law requires) they had to hire Wayne Police at a rate of over $100 an hour. Make sense huh? Hire police and pay them ten times what security would cost. But then again I guess it does since Wayne PD will eventually be screwed out of money also.