We are 14.3 trillion in debt as a country, you would have to spend $1 million a minute for 27 years, 2-1/2 months to pay it off on 10/01/2038. This economy seems to be affecting big business as this year keeps dragging on. With the recent news of Borders closing, it made me watch the final 30 days of marketing.

The first move to the consumer was to inform them that Borders was coming out of Chapter 11 and to watch your email for bigger and better offers. This came in the form of a letter from the president. Mike Edwards was not hiding the pains but making it very clear we want you back in our store.  The first offer that came to me days later was a BIG 40% any purchase. This actually hooked me back into the store. The last time Borders made a profit was 2006. Its yearly income has dropped by $1 billion in the four years since then.

This sounded like Blockbuster Video all over again. The powerhouse chain operated 511 Borders superstores in the world, including 508 in the U.S. and three in Puerto Rico. The company also operated 175 stores in the Waldenbooks Specialty Retail segment, including Waldenbooks, Borders Express, Borders airport stores, and Borders Outlet stores. It’s as if the company couldn’t change with the times of how people were reading today.

Every week I got a new coupon for 40% off, two coupons for 30% off my entire purchase and they even sprinkled in an additional 10% off savings of new books.
Was this really going to save this giant from ruin? They needed stimulation fast and people weren’t changing the way they read the paper, magazines or books. Quite simply, its all electronic. Its simpler, faster, and easy to carry around if it’s on your smart phone, ipad, Nook, Kindle, Archos, Velocity, Augen, Dell Tablets, XOOM, ViewSonic, Superpad Google, Sony Reader, Sony Dash, WePad, JooJoo Tablet, Eken M003, Coby, Nextbook, Wacom, ASUE Eee, and dozens of others. Seriously, how do you not see the way we intake media is changing? But something more important here is very clear. Why did Borders not merge or join forces with Kindle or better yet the ipad? Barnes and Noble did that strategy move with the Nook. They committed to it!

Borders lowered the prices of the Nook which surprised Kindle to help push the Nook but had no direct ties to any one brand. On July 7, 2010, Borders opened an eBook Store to allow books to be directly downloaded to an e-reader device or a Borders eReader app, it was actually handled by Kobo, Inc. On June 3, 2011, the Borders eReader apps were changed to Kobo eReader apps and users could transfer their Borders eBooks to their Kobo library.

So at the end of the month I receive my eblast stating that Borders is closing it’s doors. Another well written letter from the president explaining we put up a good fight but the tablets have got the best of them. It could not keep up with moving technology. I was sad and then just read that Nook just signed a deal with OfficeMax, which I feel is the next big chain to close it’s doors. ToysRus just signed on with the Kindle. Really? ToysRus believes they should be selling tablets?

Here is one last thought, when you hand your next book down to your grandchildren, will you need to give them the reader?

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