Borders post-mortem

KARMIC PAYBACK OR SIGN OF THE TIMES? “The troubles of Borders are rooted in a series of strategic missteps, executive turnover and a failure to understand the digital revolution—problems in many ways of Borders’ own making,” notes a N.Y. Times story on the implcations of the chain’s bankruptcy filing. “But as those in the volatile industry digested the news that most saw coming, they were acutely aware of the bigger picture: that in a fast-evolving bookselling environment there is slim margin for error. Borders was once seen as the brainier of the large chains, beginning in 1971 as a used bookstore in Ann Arbor, Mich. In the 1990s, that image began to fade as the chain expanded wildly and helped wipe out many mom-and-pop independent stores. Now the company is set to close some 200 stores and shed much of its staff in the coming weeks.” (2/17a)