Borders Group, Inc. (NASDAQOTH:BGPIQ)

With the latest rounds of delayed payments to vendors and landlords coupled with the reports that they are preparing for bankruptcy filings[1] for next week (6 January 2011 - 13 January 2011), things do not look good for Borders Group (NYSE:BGP). As others have noted, while they to tend to have the best selection in terms of books and "browse-ability" is one of the big pluses that a brick and mortar bookstore offers over Amazon (NYSE:AMZN), that it and of itself is not enough to make a sustainable business model and given that Barnes and Noble (NYSE:BKS) has been aggressively pursing the ebook market as of late, Borders may just prove to be too late to the game to recover.

[1] http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-02-01/borders-group-said-to-prepare-for-bankruptcy-filing.html

Failed to integrate technology into their forward business plan. GE capital is a sign of looming bankruptcy.

For the book industry, it's the Netflix of selection (no wait that would be Amazon) but the cable TV of consumer pricing. Still it is a great store for browsing, it would be a shame to see them go. Maybe they should reinvent themselves as a library with a paid membership fee.

Seems logical for a take over, even with 335 million in debt. 550 stores for maybe 500 million? ... Cheap.

Books aren't gone yet. Unlike movies, the target audience of a book store is much older, and thus a Barnes&Noble/Borders merged company has a viable future, at least for awhile.

It isn't just the economy that will destroy Borders. The concept of large b&m bookstores is outdated. It just cannot compete with online bookstores with their much cheaper prices and digital books.

they are going bankrupt c$250 of short term debt and only $25m of cash while consistently cashflow negative

BGP's business model (along with Radio Shack, Blockbuster, and Barnes and Noble) cannot survive in this decade due to the rise of e-commerce. Also, publishers now have the ability to sell ebooks directly from their websites. How will that benefit BGP?

Here's an easy one. Borders is just like Blockbuster video. They're being outmoded by technology and they can't figure out how to make the stores work with the new technology... Because there isn't a way to make it work. They're doomed.

They'll hang around by selling trinkets and cutesy crap that has nothing to do with books for a year or two.

Books are becoming out-dated especially with the arrival of the electronic readers. Most of everyone else purchases their physical books from online sources such as Amazon.com or from the local supermarket. Similar holds true for CDs and DVDs.

BGP is the brick-and-mortar music store of 8 years ago

next round of speculative outperformers. very risky (except for the few at the end of the list).

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I don't see Borders surviving 2011

There is a change in marketing tactics that could boost sales in their book stores: Their WI/FI connections are now free access, like a regular cafe.

no store traffic. Stores have few customers on Friday Sat nights unlike years ago in this chain

If the economy gets any worse, people will give up on going to Borders and go to a local library to read, if they can find one that is still open. BGP is in need of a real recovery soon and a bailout would also help. Borders Bank has a nice ring to it.

Anyone been in a Borders lately? They're sloppy and overcrowded. Barnes and Noble is far superior

Up because they were able to secure credit? Doesn't mean anything positive about a business with declining revenues and no profits.

good stuff