MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
June 15 – June 22, 2006 Edition
Borders Lays Off
90 Staff Members
In All Departments
NEW YORK, NY/6/9/06—Borders Group, in an effort to better balance costs with revenues, has cut its staff by about 6%. In all, about 90 people have been laid off in a company wide cut that included downsizing in merchandising and finance, IT, human resources, buying and distribution departments in both the bookseller’s Ann Arbor headquarters and its warehouse locations. The book store chain is not cutting any in-store positions.
In the face of the cuts, however, the company continues to project a small increase in same store sales for the year.
Borders Group, Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BGP. The company is a leading global retailer of books, music, movies, and gift and stationery items with 2005 revenues of $4 billion. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Borders Group, through its subsidiaries, employs more than 35,000 people worldwide and serves more than 30 million customers each year on a global basis. The company is organized into three business segments: Borders Domestic Superstores, International, and Waldenbooks Specialty Retail. At the close of fiscal 2005, there were 473 domestic Borders Superstores. In the International segment, there are 55 Borders superstores located mainly in the U.K. and Asia Pacific, as well as 33 Books etc. stores primarily throughout Great Britain. In addition, the International segment includes Paperchase Products Limited, a U.K.-based gifts and stationery retailer with approximately 90 locations. The Waldenbooks Specialty Retail segment includes 678 Waldenbooks, Borders Express, Borders outlet and airport stores as well as the company’s seasonal calendar business. More information on the company is available at www.bordersgroupinc.com.
