Borders begins liquidation sales at all stores

NEW YORK - Borders Group begins liquidation sales at all of its 399 stores as the 40-year-old chain winds down operations.

A liquidation company that is part of the process said late Thursday that the sales will be held starting Friday at all 259 Borders superstores, 114 Borders Express and Waldenbooks, and 26 Borders airport stores.

Several dozen stores - including one in Exton and one in Mays Landing - could remain open if talks with a rival chain result in an agreement.

But the list of stores to be closed has these Philadelphia-area locations: Bryn Mawr, Concord Township, Mount Laurel, Springfield, Warrington, Wilmington and Wynnewood.

Gordon Brothers Group, part of a group of liquidators leading the sales, says more than $700 million of the company's inventory, including books, stationery, music and movies will be sold.

Store fixtures, furnishings and equipment, including shelving and, in some cases, café equipment, will also be sold off

Discounts of up to 40 percent off will be offered on the merchandise initially. Liquidation sales typically last eight to ten weeks and discounts usually get steeper later in the process, although merchandise is scarcer.

Borders gift cards will be valid throughout the sale.

"This marks the end of an era," said Borders group president Mike Edwards.

Still, some stores may remain open as Books-a-Million stores (see list below). The chain is bidding for leases and assets of 30 Borders stores. Under the proposed bid, Books-a-Million, will assume the leases and continue to operate the stores.

Books-a-Million, based in Birmingham, Ala., operates 231 Books-a-Million, Bookland and Books & Co. stores.

The chain's website lists current Philadelphia-area locations on Market Street in Center City, and in Cherry Hill, Pottstown and Willow Grove.

These are the Borders locations that may be saved; the two chains are still in talks:

California

San Diego

Sand City

Connecticut

 Waterford

Delaware

 Dover

Ohio

 Canton

Maine

 Bangor

Portland

Maryland

 Columbia

Hagerstown

Waldorf

New Hampshire

 Concord

West Lebanon

New Jersey

 Mays Landing

North Carolina

 Southern Pines

Oregon

Eugene

Gresham

Salem

Pennsylvania

Butler

Exton

Hanover

Monaca

Pennsdale

Selinsgrove

Scranton

York

South Carolina

Charleston

South Dakota

Rapid City

Texas

San Antonio

Virginia

Woodbridge

Wisconsin

Eau Claire