Borders Books Liquidates All Stores

Borders Books & Music, the second largest book retailer in the country, will be closing the doors starting as early as this Friday, possibly including the local Borders Express in the Oxford Valley Mall. The retail chain announced the news in a news release Monday.

According to the news release, the liquidation of all remaining 399 Borders and Borders Express stores will start as early as this Friday and gradually continue in progressive phases until the end of September. The move will leave the companies 10,700 employees out of work.

Borders Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last February, closing down 30 percent of the companies facilities, including the .

"Following the best efforts of all parties, we are saddened by this development … We were all working hard towards a different outcome, but the headwinds we have been facing for quite some time, including the rapidly changing book industry, eReader revolution, and turbulent economy, have brought us to where we are now," Borders Group President Mike Edwards said in the news release.

Borders Group will sell off its assets to two seperate corporate liquidators, Hilco and the Gordon Brothers. Both companies will administer and oversee the store closure process of the remaining Borders Group facilities.

According to CNN Money, The announcement of the liquidation came a week after a deal with the company Direct Brands fell through. Direct Brands, which claims to be the largest "direct-to-consumer" media distributor in the U.S, was previously going to buy Border's assets for $215.1 million and take on $220 million in liabilities. The deal, CNN says, fell through because the plan was “no longer supported by the deciding parties."

The mood at the Borders Express in the Oxford Valley Mall was somber. A whiteboard was erected behind the store's cash-wrap, a message scrolled in red dry-erase marker gave the store employees thanks to its customers.

The mood of customers ranged from anger to disbelief.

"I'm not happy about this at all," 75-year-old Fairless Hills resident John Gallagher said.

Gallagher said he was a customer at the store for almost a decade.

"They were always friendly. They never bothered me when I sat down and read my train magazines," Gallagher added, "I think another store closing down is a bad sign."

Madeline Crowel, a former employee of the Borders Express store, said she agrees with Gallagher's sentiment.

"It's disparaging. I know people who have worked in that store for almost their entire lives. It's sad that it's going to soon be all gone. I think shopping at malls is simply falling out of favor," Crowel said.

Crowel said she believes the downfall of the company had to do with the trends towards e-readers and other mediums that allowed consumers to digest books in a digital format.

"Most people aren't going being drawn to print books anymore. It's all going electronic. Me, I like both. I'm an equal opportunity reader," Crowel said.

Borders Group has made no official statement on whether gift cards or store credit will still be accepted during the liquidation procedures, or whether there are any plans on giving refunds for the stores loyalty program; the Rewards Plus card, which Borders Group rolled out September of last year.