Borders Announces Cuts, Consolidations

Borders Group Inc. (Ann Arbor, Mich.) has announced a consolidation of its corporate management structure at the vp and director levels, eliminating six vp’s and 10 director positions.

Among its various moves, the nation’s second-largest book retailer, struggling in the current economy, has eliminated the role of executive vp of U.S. Stores, currently held by Ken Armstrong, who joined the company in 2007. Steve Davis, senior vp of Borders Group operations, will take on leadership of the store operations group.

Other changes at the vp level include the elimination of: vp, real estate; vp, human resource services; vp, creative; senior vp, e-business; and senior vp and chief information officer.

At the director level, the 10 eliminated positions include posts based outside the corporate office, such as the roles of sales director and Waldenbooks specialty retail regional director as well as director posts at the corporate office within various departments, including Paperchase gifts and stationery, merchandise strategy, merchandise planning and replenishment and national event marketing.

“As we address the immediate priority of getting our company's financial house in order, one of our goals is to more aggressively reduce annual expenses,” said Borders Group ceo Ron Marshall. “It is difficult to make the decision to eliminate jobs, especially those of talented and dedicated leaders who have significantly contributed to our organization, yet streamlining our leadership and eliminating management layers will help us be more agile and at the same time advance us toward our expense reduction goals.”