A few weeks ago Borders Bookstore and their other named store Waldenbooks announced they would be closing 200 locations nationwide. In a statement released by the company:

“It has become increasingly clear that in light of the environment of curtailed customer spending, our ongoing discussions with publishers and other vendor related parties, and the company’s lack of liquidity, Borders Group does not have the capital resources it needs to be a viable competitor and which are essential for it to move forward with its business strategy to reposition itself successfully for the long term…We are confident that, with the protection afforded under Chapter 11 and with the support of employees, publishers, suppliers and creditors, and the reading public, a successful reorganization can be achieved enabling Borders to emerge from the process as a stronger and more vibrant book seller.”

The complete article can be read at the Wall Street Journal including a list of the 200 stores closing. With the closing of 200 chain bookstores nationwide and the addition of many independent stores closing on a weekly basis the industry is either falling apart or it is prime for a smaller market. I like to believe that the closing of 200 Borders will help create a better market and here are three ways I see it benefiting independent stores nationwide:

• Competing in a Smaller Market: With less stores competing for the share of the market, readers who are still looking to buy books still have to go somewhere. Even though reports are coming in more and more often of E-books outselling their printed counter parts (only 19 of the top 50 did this past Christmas season) the popularity of E-readers is not nearly happening as fast as many industry executives had hoped for. Michael Hyatt writes a compelling post about why he thinks that the market will still continue to grow slowly on his blog a few weeks ago. With E-readers still slowly taking off, the print share of the retail market will still exist for another 15-20 years at a similar or slowly decreasing trend. What does this mean? It means for the next ten plus years you have the opportunity to emerge when other stores close. If you can hang on during the down times and create a way to keep your store relevant and moving product, you are going to be able to continue to thrive as other stores close.
• Cheap Fixtures: For smaller stores it creates an opportunity to get nice stuff at a great price. Corporate stores like Family Christian, Lifeway, Barnes & Noble have custom furniture, signs and media departments. In our store we do all of our own graphics and we have to contract out for new (expensive!) shelving units to be built. With the closure of 200 Borders nationwide there is a great chance that your store can pick-up some designer shelves or display fixtures at the fraction of the cost. More shelves = more inventory? No. In our store we were able to pick up three shelving units and and end-cap from a local Borders for $265 vs. the roughly $2500 it would have cost to custom make them. We did not use the shelves to carry more inventory but rather to feature (face out) more of the current stock we already had. Result? A dramatic increase in the sale of books that were not faced out over the previous four years. One title for example went from selling two units in two years to selling four units in four weeks. With the addition of three bookshelves to our store we were able to feature 250 more titles.
• Inventory Sales: Borders carried a portion of the retail market. As a result of the number of stores closing my hunch is that publishers are going to be stuck with stock they had planned on sending to Borders around the country. As a result publishers are going to have back stock that they need to move. Publishing houses will move stock to smaller stores through various promotions that in turn you will be able to pass on to the customer. I hear it every weekend, “I will just shop on Amazon, it is cheaper.” I love when I can pass on a publisher special that allows our store to profit, the customer to get what they are looking for all at a competitive price with Amazon and others. I foresee this trend happening only for a limited time, so if you have the funds available I suggest you jump on any of the specials in the next few weeks.

How else do you think we as store managers or as customers can benefit from the closing of 200 Borders stores?