MANAGEMENT REVIEW FOR BORDERS BOOKS

To achieve this goal, the management of Borders Group Inc., the holding company for Borders Book Stores and related companies face multiple management challenges. The book selling industry is highly competitive and, as detailed below, has many potential pitfalls to profitability (AAmerican book...@ 1998, 12). This paper will discuss Borders in two sections. Section I, Borders, will include the following sections: a) Product; b) Environment; c) Market Potential; d) Distribution; e) Promotion; and, f) Pricing. Section II, The Competition, will feature a detailed competitive analysis.

The Borders Group Inc. is headquartered in Michigan and is America=s second-largest book retailer. In total, the company owns and runs some 1,150 domestic stores(260 Borders superstores and some 890 Waldenbooks).

Also in the corporate fold are 25 Books etc. stores in the UK and has Borders stores in the UK, Australia, and Singapore (10k).

Most of the Borders superstores sell music and videos in addition to books. The company also sells books on its website, www.borders.com, which also offers audio books, mu

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s and magazines and newspapers and television and movies feed off each other@ (Marchand, 1998, B2).Being a bookstore that relies on publishers for its product, Borders has little control over this situation. Pricing With the ever increasing retail prices for books, Borders is increasingly price-sensitive and makes an attempt to reduce margins on books to remain competitive. The pricing structure starts when a published recommends a retail price, and places that price on its books. Usually that price contains sufficient margins to cover the value added increments of the distribution channels (see above).In addition, Borders has a reputation as a tough bargainer when it comes to book purchases. Its purchasing strategies apparently match those of its rival Barnes & Noble, according to a 1998 suit from the American Booksellers Association which charges, among other things, that Borders is violating the federal RobinsonPatman Act and the California Fair Trade Practices Act and Unfair Competition Law (AABA Renews...@, 1998, 2). The suit was filed in California because, according to the allegations, the two chains have Atargeted the state...as a key component of their rapid growth strategy,"(AABA Renews...@, 1998, 2). The R
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3356
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page)

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