A2: Borders Group
The Earth Times posts a press release from Borders Group that announces a new CEO and other management changes at the beleaguered Ann Arbor-based bookstore chain. Ron Marshall, founder of the private equity firm Wildridge Capital Management, has replaced George Jones as president and CEO. Jones had been in that job since July 2006. In a statement, Borders board chairman Larry Pollock says: “Progress has been made by Borders Group over recent quarters within the challenging economy to reduce debt, improve cash flow, cut expenses, enhance inventory productivity and improve margins, but it is imperative that the company more aggressively attack these initiatives to address its long-term future.” Borders also reported a double-digit sales decline for the holiday period ending Jan. 3. [Source]
Does anyone have any insight into what’s happening inside Borders? It is kind of amazing that they haven’t had bigger layoffs considering the amount of debt they have ($535M) vs. cash ($38M).
Hel-LO!! Customer is MIA. Hel-LO!
Have you walked into a Borders lately or better still, has anyone been inside any retail door in the last 5 years??
Customer service can be likened to herding cattle on a sinking ship. Has anyone been inside a store lately and watched the veiled attempt to feign excellent customer service on the part of completely disinterested salespeople?? Hel-LO!
Where has all the solid, genuine customer service gone?
I recently went into Borders downtown with a gift card, a coupon, and the titles of 7 books from my Amazon wish list. Working down the list, I found plenty of staff willing to help me look up the books. What they couldn’t explain was why, of the 7 books I wanted to buy, they only had one of them. Now that was a profoundly disappointing shopping experience.
I noticed the same pattern as #2 a couple nights ago at Sears where the lonely shoppers like me were outnumbered by staff who were, unfortunately,barely trained and not very efficient.
If you want customer service, try Nicola’s (at Westgate). They don’t have the extensive collection that Borders can muster, but often have the book I was looking for (they stock everything reviewed in the New York Times Book Review, for example) and will order things not in stock. Last time it took me about 2 days to get my order. They also have a customer rewards program. Buy local first!
While Nicola’s has some very good employees (we like Nate!), I have also found that they can be quite rude on occasion, an attitude that stems from the top.
We visit Nicola’s often, but purchase most of our stuff from Amazon (in which we are shareholders, like everyone else on this site who has any money in a stock index fund).