Borders Group’s 3Q Sales Drop

Borders Group Inc. (Ann Arbor, Mich.,) reported total consolidated sales were down 12.7 percent to $595.5 million for the fiscal third quarter, ended Oct. 31, 2009. Same-store sales declined 12 percent at Borders superstores and 7 percent at Waldenbooks Specialty Retail stores.

The retailer reduced inventory by $99 million, led by a decrease in multimedia inventory of $70 million. “During the third quarter, we prepared for the upcoming holiday selling season,” says Borders Group ceo Ron Marshall. “We increased core book inventories, experimented with a range of traffic-driving and in-store promotions and invested in store payroll to get books out on the shelves and our stores in top condition to receive customers.”

Total third quarter sales at Borders superstores, including Borders.com, in the third quarter were $492.4 million, down 12.1 percent from a year ago. No Borders superstores were closed during the third quarter and the period ended with 513 locations.

For the company’s Waldenbooks Specialty Retail division, total third quarter sales were $72.9 million, or down 20.3 percent compared to the same period in 2008, as the number of stores decreased to 361 compared to 467 stores that were open at the close of the same period a year ago.

While nine Waldenbooks locations were closed in the third quarter, Borders announced this month that it plans to close approximately 200 stores within its Waldenbooks Specialty Retail segment in January 2010 to emerge with a smaller, more profitable mall business.

Internationally, the company’s sales, which consist primarily of Paperchase, were flat at $30.2 million.

Borders Group operates approximately 1000 stores worldwide under the Borders and Waldenbooks brand names.