Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Borders went bust in the UK about a year ago. I'm sorry to see that it looks as if the same thing may happen in the US too.
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I'd call it a virtual certainty.
There was an interesting development not long back. A VC firm owns about 40% of Borders Group, and announced a commitment to find the funding to allow Borders to acquire Barnes and Noble. This would be a case of "little fish swallows big fish", and more interesting because the little fish is a lot sicker than the big one. The question would be "Can two sick companies make a healthy one?" The usual answer to that question is "No".
And VCs aren't long term investors. Their motive would be to combine the chains, close redundant stores, cut costs, and try to boost the stock value of the merged entity, then sell at a healthy profit. One question is whether the combined entity would be viable, and another is who would buy the VC's shares, and why.
Publishing in general is beset by too many books chasing too few readers, and book selling is beset by too many stores chasing too few customers.
What's happening to Borders is not a surprise.
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Dennis