Borders
Liquidated all stores in 2011 after filing for bankruptcy.
Brothers Tom and Louis Borders opened a bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1971 and built a chain of large-format superstores famous for deep inventories, in-store cafes, and racks of CDs and DVDs. Borders expanded aggressively but was slow to develop e-commerce — outsourcing its website to Amazon — and was caught flat-footed by digital books and online retail. Unable to restructure its debt, Borders liquidated its remaining stores in 2011.
Known For
- Large-format book superstores
- In-store cafes and music sections
- Outsourced its website to Amazon