Borders Group

Giant bookseller Borders Group Inc., battered by poor sales, continuing financial losses and heavy debt, filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday and said it would close about 200 of its 642 stores and lay off about 6,000 of its 19,000 workers. In California, 35 stores will be shuttered, including 21 in Southern California. Among those being closed are stores in Century City, Glendale, Valencia, Tustin, Orange, Oxnard, Long Beach and Pasadena. All the stores that will be closed are underperforming superstores, Borders said.

In a sewer beneath Las Vegas, a lethal vixen named Abigail is locked in a mortal struggle with an outlaw cowboy with ties to Greek gods. The scene, recently filmed over three days on a sound stage in Glendale, wasn't for a new sci-fi TV series or movie. It was for a 30-second commercial aired on Google TV to promote "Retribution," the latest chapter in the popular paranormal book series "Dark Hunter" from bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon. Such commercials, or so-called book trailers, have become increasingly common as publishers look for novel ways to market their bestsellers at a time when fewer people are buying physical copies of books and chains such as Borders Group are shutting down.

Giant bookseller Borders Group Inc. will begin liquidating its 399 stores nationwide, including huge sales at its 18 remaining stores in Southern California. Books, DVDs and furniture valued at more than $700 million will be discounted up to 40% starting Friday, liquidators said. The sales are expected to wrap up in September. Up to 10,700 chain employees nationwide, including 524 in Southern California, will lose their jobs after liquidation. Still up in the air is a possible sale of up to 35 locations to an Alabama company.

Book lovers across Southern California lined up for bargains at Borders bookstores as the nation's second-largest bookseller began a massive going-out-of-business sale. When workers opened the doors in El Segundo and rolled out shelves stocked with colorful, discounted books, a waiting crowd Friday made its way into the sprawling superstore, hungry for bargains. What they found as they worked their way through the 22,000-square-foot store were signs proclaiming, "Nothing held back!"

Direct Brands plans a $215-million opening bid for Borders Group Inc., the nation's second-largest bookseller, in a Bankruptcy Court auction. Once sold — probably later this month — the Ann Arbor, Mich., bookseller will morph into something different, said turnaround expert Jim McTevia of McTevia & Associates. "This should have been done long before Borders ended up in bankruptcy," he said. "An equity firm has to do this and dump all the assets they don't want. What is left is probably going to be a viable operating company, but not anywhere near what it is today.

Alcatel (ALA) Jim: Buy Mike: Buy * Mike: Alcatel is the second-largest French company in terms of market capitalization, Jim, and here's this week's puzzler: Can you identify any other French enterprise of such size? Jim: Uh . . . Mike: I thought not. Jim: Actually, this is the first French stock we've done, no? Mike: Well, most Americans probably don't think of the French as global industrial leaders. Jim: Let's just say it's a good thing Alcatel doesn't make cars.

Book lovers across Southern California lined up for bargains at Borders bookstores as the nation's second-largest bookseller began a massive going-out-of-business sale. When workers opened the doors in El Segundo and rolled out shelves stocked with colorful, discounted books, a waiting crowd Friday made its way into the sprawling superstore, hungry for bargains. What they found as they worked their way through the 22,000-square-foot store were signs proclaiming, "Nothing held back!"

Borders Group Inc. reported a narrower second-quarter loss. The second-largest U.S. bookseller lost $9.2 million, or 15 cents a share, compared with $25.1 million, or 43 cents, a year earlier. Revenue fell to $758.5 million from $812.4 million, the company said.

Borders Group Inc. said it expects a third-quarter loss of about 4 cents a share, wider than the 1-cent loss analysts expected. Sales at Borders superstores open at least a year will be flat to down 1%, while sales at the Waldenbooks unit will be down about 5%, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based bookseller said. Borders lost a store at the World Trade Center and was forced to close Waldenbooks stores temporarily as malls shut down after the terrorist attacks.

Giant bookseller Borders Group Inc. will begin liquidating its 399 stores nationwide, including huge sales at its 18 remaining stores in Southern California. Books, DVDs and furniture valued at more than $700 million will be discounted up to 40% starting Friday, liquidators said. The sales are expected to wrap up in September. Up to 10,700 chain employees nationwide, including 524 in Southern California, will lose their jobs after liquidation. Still up in the air is a possible sale of up to 35 locations to an Alabama company.

Borders liquidation sales begin Friday at 18 locations in Southern California. Arcadia: 400 S. Baldwin Ave. Brea: 429 S. Associated Road Canoga Park: 6510 Canoga Ave. Costa Mesa: South Coast Plaza Downey: Stonewood Mall El Segundo: 710 S. Sepulveda Lakewood: Lakewood Center Mall Mission Viejo: 25222 El PaseoThe Shops at Mission Viejo National City: 3030 Plaza Bonita Road Northridge: 9301 Tampa...

Direct Brands plans a $215-million opening bid for Borders Group Inc., the nation's second-largest bookseller, in a Bankruptcy Court auction. Once sold — probably later this month — the Ann Arbor, Mich., bookseller will morph into something different, said turnaround expert Jim McTevia of McTevia & Associates. "This should have been done long before Borders ended up in bankruptcy," he said. "An equity firm has to do this and dump all the assets they don't want. What is left is probably going to be a viable operating company, but not anywhere near what it is today.

Bargain hunters were out in force this weekend as liquidation sales began at 200 Borders locations slated to close as part of the company's bankruptcy filing. The affected stores ? about one-third of the bookseller's locations ? are expected to close by the end of April. Twenty-one underperforming stores in Southern California will be shut, including stores in Sherman Oaks, Century City, Long Beach and Orange. Huge "store closing" and "everything must go" posters covered the windows at Borders in Pasadena and Glendale, which were bustling with customers Sunday.

Giant bookseller Borders Group Inc., battered by poor sales, continuing financial losses and heavy debt, filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday and said it would close about 200 of its 642 stores and lay off about 6,000 of its 19,000 workers. In California, 35 stores will be shuttered, including 21 in Southern California. Among those being closed are stores in Century City, Glendale, Valencia, Tustin, Orange, Oxnard, Long Beach and Pasadena. All the stores that will be closed are underperforming superstores, Borders said.

Starting off as a used-book store in 1971 in the Michigan college town of Ann Arbor, Borders grew into a successful nationwide chain of superstores, widely castigated at one time for helping stamp out many small, independent stores around the country. But after a series of competitive blunders and missteps in the last decade, Borders Group Inc. itself is now under siege, cutting staff, shuttering stores, shaking up top management and flirting with bankruptcy. Critics said the company botched its move into the digital age and instead saw sales drop and earnings plummet.

Borders liquidation sales begin Friday at 18 locations in Southern California. Arcadia: 400 S. Baldwin Ave. Brea: 429 S. Associated Road Canoga Park: 6510 Canoga Ave. Costa Mesa: South Coast Plaza Downey: Stonewood Mall El Segundo: 710 S. Sepulveda Lakewood: Lakewood Center Mall Mission Viejo: 25222 El PaseoThe Shops at Mission Viejo National City: 3030 Plaza Bonita Road Northridge: 9301 Tampa...

Borders Group Inc. says it will close 200 Waldenbooks stores and cut 1,500 jobs in January to make the chain smaller and more profitable. Borders, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., said the closings would leave about 130 Waldenbooks stores still in business. The company says the closures will not affect any Borders superstores or any of its mall kiosks, including 500 Day by Day Calendar Co. spots and other mall-based stores.

Borders Group Inc., the second-largest U.S. bookstore chain, lost more than a fifth of its market value Friday after saying it had delayed payments to some publishers while trying to avert a liquidity crisis. Borders shares sank 26 cents, or 22%, to 90 cents, the biggest drop in more than two years. The shares have retreated 24% this year. The company said last month that it was in talks to refinance debt and might violate its credit agreements in the first quarter if negotiations failed.

TODAY → Commerce Department releases personal income and spending for February. → Treasury auction. → Quarterly earnings report due from Borders Group. TUESDAY → Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller releases January index of home prices. → Conference Board releases its consumer confidence index for March. WEDNESDAY → Commerce Department releases factory orders for February. → Earnings reports due from Research in Motion and Rite Aid. THURSDAY → Major automakers report U.S. sales for March.