Borders Group Liquidation Sales Could Begin Friday

By Bryan Yurcan, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, July 21, 2011

With Borders Group announcing a total liquidation of its assets after no new bids surfaced Monday in an auction process for its bookstore chain, all of the its stores will be closed by September.

In its heyday, Borders once operated more than 1,000 stores, compared to about 400 now. The company filed for bankruptcy in February, having been done in by competition from online booksellers and its failure to aggressively enter into the e-reader market as competitor Barnes & Noble did with the Nook.

So while bookstore lovers may lament the slow death of the brick-and-mortar book dealer, they can still use this opportunity to get some good deals as Borders tries to get rid of its remaining inventory.

Here is a brief primer of the Borders liquidation process:

- Liquidation sales will take place once a bankruptcy judge approves the liquidation, which could be as early as Friday.

- Liquidations sales will likely last 9-10 weeks, but some stores scould close sooner than that once they are emptied of inventory. All stores are slated to be closed by the end of September.

- Discounts will start at 40 percent off for most merchandise, and some items could be heavily discounted even further.

- Valid Borders gift cards will still be accepted in stores as they as they remain in operation, the company said.

- To find a Borders store near you, you can use the store locator function on the company's Web site.

Borders president and CEO Mike Edwards pointed to "the rapidly changing book industry, eReader revolution, and turbulent economy" as factors that lead to the company's demise.