Borders Inc

Kmart to Revamp Borders, Walden Subsidiaries: Kmart Corp. launched a restructuring of its Borders Inc. and Walden Book Co. units, streamlining the bookstore operations to make them more attractive in a planned public stock sale next year. Under the plan, Kmart will create a new corporate unit, Borders Group Inc., to manage Borders, Waldenbooks and Planet Music Inc. The new company will be based in Borders' current offices in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Walden's Stamford, Conn.

Bookstore operator Borders Group Inc. named former Saks Inc. executive George Jones as its chief executive, ending a six-month search to find a replacement for Greg Josefowicz.

Bookstore operator Borders Group Inc. named former Saks Inc. executive George Jones as its chief executive, ending a six-month search to find a replacement for Greg Josefowicz.

Borders Group Inc., the second-largest U.S. bookstore chain, posted a fiscal first-quarter net loss of $5.3 million on lower sales of bestsellers and music. The company cut its full-year earnings forecast. The net loss of 7 cents a share contrasted with restated net income of $2.3 million, or 3 cents a share, a year earlier, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company said. Sales in the three months ended April 23 rose 1.8% to $853 million.

Microsoft--it's just not a corporate brand, it's a way of life. After all, the company's logos already are splayed across your computer, automobile and television set. Now, Bill Gates wants to get into your coffee mug. Borders bookstores are selling 12-ounce packages of Windows 98 coffee beans.

Buyout firms Bain Capital Inc., Apollo Management and Blackstone Group are considering making separate bids for Borders Group Inc., the No. 2 U.S. book chain, people familiar with the planned sale said. A buyout would value the retailer at about $2 billion, given its market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a premium of as much as 30%, and assumed debt of $425 million, a source said. Borders hired Merrill Lynch & Co. in March for advice on how to boost its stock, which has fallen 70% since 1998.

Borders Inc., a national chain of book and music super-stores owned by Kmart Corp., will open its first store in Orange County, possibly as early as midsummer, the Mission Viejo Co. said Thursday. Borders, whose mega-bookstores are popular in other areas of the nation for their vast selection, homey feel and in-store coffee bar, has closed escrow on land for a 30,000-square-foot store in a new Mission Viejo mall, the company said.

A group of independent booksellers accused the Barnes & Noble and Borders mega-chains on Wednesday of bullying publishers into giving them special advantages that are driving mom-and-pop operations out of business. The American Booksellers Assn.

At first glance, the bustling Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica looks like a commercial playground, full of pedestrians, popular stores and jingling cash registers. But it's also become a battleground in the increasingly nasty dispute between America's independent booksellers and the nation's two largest book chains, Barnes & Noble and Borders. Last month, the American Booksellers Assn.

Buyout firms Bain Capital Inc., Apollo Management and Blackstone Group are considering making separate bids for Borders Group Inc., the No. 2 U.S. book chain, people familiar with the planned sale said. A buyout would value the retailer at about $2 billion, given its market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a premium of as much as 30%, and assumed debt of $425 million, a source said. Borders hired Merrill Lynch & Co. in March for advice on how to boost its stock, which has fallen 70% since 1998.

Borders Books, Music and Cafe said Wednesday that it will open a store at South Coast Plaza next to where Crate & Barrel is installing a new home furnishing store. The bookstore, which will open this fall, should give a boost to the shopping plaza formerly known as Crystal Court, which is overhauling its tenant mix and linking itself more closely to its sister center across Bear Street.

A price war among the three biggest online booksellers broke out Monday when Amazon.com announced 50% off all New York Times best-sellers, and Barnesandnoble.com and Borders.com immediately matched the discount. The deep discounts will mean the companies will make little or no profit on the books, but the offer could stimulate sales of other more lucrative products as customers browse through the Web sites.

Finding a good bookstore in many Southeast Asian countries is about as likely as stumbling across a patch of snow in the streets of Bangkok. After you've run through the Ho Chi Minh titles in Vietnam, you're pretty much out of luck. In Laos, you're out of luck, period. In Indonesia, books are wrapped in plastic, eliminating the joy of perusing in search of the perfect read.

Microsoft--it's just not a corporate brand, it's a way of life. After all, the company's logos already are splayed across your computer, automobile and television set. Now, Bill Gates wants to get into your coffee mug. Borders bookstores are selling 12-ounce packages of Windows 98 coffee beans.

At first glance, the bustling Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica looks like a commercial playground, full of pedestrians, popular stores and jingling cash registers. But it's also become a battleground in the increasingly nasty dispute between America's independent booksellers and the nation's two largest book chains, Barnes & Noble and Borders. Last month, the American Booksellers Assn.

A group of independent booksellers has sued the Barnes & Noble and Borders mega-chains for allegedly bullying publishers into giving them discounts and special deals in violation of antitrust laws. The American Booksellers Assn. and 26 independent stores, including nine in California, contend the two chains have surreptitiously secured deals with publishers that undercut wholesale prices for the large chains, and that the same deals have not been offered to small retailers.