Thursday, March 27, 2008

Borders Group, Struggling Bookstore Chain How Not to Run a Bookstore. The Demise of Borders Books. Once calling itself a collection of individual stores and denying it was a chain, Borders, begun in 1971 by brothers Tom and Louis, is in deep financial trouble. Competition from discounters like Walmart and Amazon, as well as rival Barnes & Noble, certainly factor into its current situation, but a number of bad business decisions and worsening employee relations are also to blame. After building a multimillion dollar distribution center and launching their own online store in 1998, Borders eventually abandoned both and let Amazon take over their web operations. Then in 2001, the chain underwent a restructuring that eliminated most of its community relations staff and began culling its once-prized inventory. The culture shifted from one of "book people" to Category Management, a grocery store-like model of marketing research financed by vendors. But as Borders is finding out, what works for other retailers does not translate well at bookstores. disclaimer: I worked for Borders for several years, and so am somewhat intimate with its history. (metafilter author) [MetaFilter] 6:42:13 PM

Stay Gold Everyone 25 años de 'Rebeldes' Hace un cuarto de siglo, nació una generación de actores que se convirtió en referente cultural de los jóvenes de los 80. Francis Ford Coppola dirigió en 'Rebeldes' ('The Ousiders', 1983) a una camada de chavales que se comerían el mundo del cine (de izda. a dcha.): Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Emilio Estevez y Patrick Swayze. The Outsiders. Click to Enlarge Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Emilio Estevez and Patrick Swayze...The Outsiders from Francis Ford Coppola...Released 25 years ago. Take a look and find the differences...here By Guga. [Dot Dot Design] 6:34:26 PM

'Submitted For Your Approval' - R. Serling The Rod Serling show you never saw. Read full story for latest details. [CNN.com - Entertainment] 6:31:59 PM