Borders

摘要

In 1971, when Borders first opened a used-book store on the University of Michigan campus, I was a freshman English-major-to-be. Naturally, I couldn't help but head into the cozy, funky store, which eventually grew into a company with more than 1,200 bookstores worldwide, second in the U.S. only to Barnes & Noble. But poor management, a misreading of the online market and a rocky economy plagued the bookseller. On July 18, Borders announced it would close its remaining 399 stores and lay off nearly 11,000 employees. The embattled publishing industry was grim about the prospect of digital books' filling in the revenue gap. "There are going to be fewer people buying books," predicts Simba industry analyst Michael Norris. "If people believe that every former Borders buyer is going to suddenly turn into an e-book consumer, they believe in the tooth fairy."