News
Borders Books' Losses Rise to US$132 Million in April
posted on by Gia Manry
The North American publishing industry news site Publishers Weekly reported on Monday that the troubled book retail chain Borders lost US$132 million over the month of April. Of this amount, US$32 million was lost from the company's ongoing operations, with its reorganization costs adding up to the additional US$100 million. In March, the company lost US$23 million in its ongoing operations.
Borders' recently requested a 120-day extension to solidify its reorganization plans. Its bankruptcy came after a string of difficulties for Borders, including the departure of two of its executives and the delay of payments to publishers, followed by additional layoffs and an attempt to convince publishers to treat its debts as loans, which failed. As noted by the retail news source ICv2, Borders played a crucial role in the rise of manga sales in the United States in the first half of the last decade. Former Tokyopop CEO Stu Levy cited Borders' bankruptcy as part of the reasons for layoffs at the publisher shortly before its announcement of closure.
