Bookstore chain and rest station for the unemployed Borders filed for bankruptcy today after it failed to reach an agreement with its various vendors and publishers about maybe just paying them some other time, like next year. The company had been losing money for years and the bankruptcy filing revealed it has amassed as much as $1.29 billion in debt with $1.27 billion in assets. It is expected to close approximately 30 percent of its stores—you can see a detailed list here—over the next few weeks, and although its other stores will remain open in the process (and will continue to honor gift cards, coupons, and its rewards program), major publishers like Ingram Book Group say they are no longer shipping books to Borders. There is still a possibility that Borders could be saved with a loan, “but only if Borders is able to shed enough underperforming stores to return to financial health.” If your local Borders is on that list, you might want to go cash in that lingering gift card soon.
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