"Borders' Woes Help E-Books"

[nyrath]

Originally Posted by Anthem

Employers are one step closer to needing nothing but robots and computers (sometimes in robots!).

But they need one other item: customers.

Customers need employment, or they will have no money to purchase the employer's products or services.

Unfortunately, by tragedy of the commons, all the employers will expect other employers to hire people.

You can see where this is going.

[nyrath]

Originally Posted by rhadin

This is the problem that ALL local retailers are facing in the Internet age. Local citizens use local stores like shopping catalogs -- to check things out but not to buy.

Yes, and it is getting worse.

There are applications for many types of cell phones. You go to a brick and mortar store. You see something you like. You scan the item's bar code with your cell phone. The application access the internet, and tells you which store has the item for the cheapest price.

If the cheapest price is at another brick and mortar store, the app will use your phone's GPS chip to tell you the closest store to your current location.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by nyrath

But they need one other item: customers.

Customers need employment, or they will have no money to purchase the employer's products or services.

Unfortunately, by tragedy of the commons, all the employers will expect other employers to hire people.

You can see where this is going.

Yup, it's an ugly situation. No clear answers. Individuals want to save, but we all end up contributing to weakening our own cities and country.

For instance, Wal-Mart's prices ended up forcing Target to drastically cut benefits for its employees, so it could stay competitive. That type of scenario has happened in industry after industry.

We all helped companies offshore jobs, because we want lower prices.

[fjtorres]

Some people thing Borders' woes will help other B&M retailers:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41625577...consumer_news/

I think... not enough to matter in the long run.

[nyrath]

Not to mention that the publishers who got stiffed by Borders are now financially shaky.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by nyrath

Not to mention that the publishers who got stiffed by Borders are now financially shaky.

Really? I assume you mean medium and small publishers, as the BPHs are generally owed on the order of $30M each; hardly back-breaking for them.

My understanding about Chapter 11 is that creditors do get paid but at the court's discretion. So suppliers shouldn't get totally stiffed. Plus, Borders isn't going into liquidation; the remaining 470-something stores will still be generating revenue (hopefully).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapter...ed_States_Code

Over at CNN they're talking about the likelihood of fire sales at the closing stores:
http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/17/news...sale/index.htm

"Depending on the arrangements with the publisher, they might be able to put the books back to the publishers, said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners. "Or the publishers might say they don't want these books."

Johnson said this is the type of arrangement that gets hashed out in bankruptcy court.

The Chapter 11 filing lists 30 publishers as creditors to Borders. Penguin Putnam holds the largest claim, at $41 million, followed by Hachette Book Group, at $37 million, and Simon & Schuster, with $34 million.

Borders files for bankruptcy
"Penguin hopes that Borders will emerge from this process as a smaller but strong book retailer, and will work closely with Borders management to support this transition," said Penguin spokesman David Zimmer.

But the publishers and Borders would not discuss their business relationship with CNNMoney.

Borders might even choose to unload heavily discounted books by moving them from successful stores and dumping them in stores that are going to be shuttered.

Bestsellers and other books that are too valuable to be discounted might be moved to other stores.

"They could go on fire sale, but more realistically they will go to the other 400 stores that will still be running," said Johnson.

"One of the great ways to get rid of obsolete inventory is to move it into one of the stores that's slated for closure," said Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst with NPD Group. "The book business is very good at moving inventory."