When was borders com launched

Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich. The company employs approximately 19, throughout the U. Online shopping is offered through borders. Find author interviews and vibrant discussions of the products we and our customers are passionate about online at facebook. After seven years of being shackled to online bookseller Amazon. Business Team Leader Stefanie Murray can be reached at or smurray annarbornews.

The new site combines all of Borders' various Web sites into one. Previously, the company operated a handful of different online portals, since www. Borders has been contractually bound to Amazon since , although exact terms of their partnership have never been made public.

The move to establish its own Web site could be crucial to the retailer's future success. Borders used to only get a percentage of online sales from Amazon in profit. Amazon itself, along with Books-A-Million, is a competitor. Now, there's no mistaking that www.

The signature deep red Borders color streams across the top of the page, underneath sign-in and search functions. Crowning the site is the Magic Shelf, which enables customers to browse a realistic-looking virtual book shelf rows deep that can be customized.

Clicking on a title brings up more information about the item and gives the customer the ability to immediately purchase it. Launches Borders Online, but analysts fault it for being late to embrace e-commerce. April: Company buys toy retailer All Wound Up, a deal that harms its liquidity. April: Announces a deal with Amazon. Ackman says fears of the threat from online retailer Amazon. March: Says it might put itself up for sale, but never finds a buyer. Around the same time, the retailer attracted the attention of the huge Kmart Corporation, which had bought Waldenbooks in and was looking to expand its book retailing segment even further.

In October of , Louis and Tom Borders sold their business though they remained investors , and Borders became a wholly owned subsidiary of Kmart. Several changes were implemented in , including modernized cash registers, a human resources department, formal training programs for employees, and the introduction of music to the stores' stock. He had helped shape the company into a mechanized book and music mecca. The company went on to add four Planet stores and 32 new Borders superstores.

With what some analysts have called the industry's most sophisticated computer inventory management and sales system, Borders not only possessed the highest sales-per-foot ratio in the industry, but was able to track popular titles by selling season. Borders had identified as many as 55 separately defined seasonal patterns and programmed these into the computer system to keep better track of seasonal and regular bestselling titles, and to help maintain a supply of such titles with little or no interruption in prospective sales.

Two months later, Borders announced it would purchase Kmart's 13 percent stock share. DiRomualdo was installed as chairman and chief executive, while Mrkonic became vice-chairman and president.

Though Borders' transition from small retailer to national chain wasn't completely smooth, many long-time employees remained with the company and were rewarded for their loyalty by generous benefits worked out during the Kmart acquisition. One sore point arose in with the proposed closure of Louis and Tom's original Borders store in Ann Arbor, set for relocation into an old department store building.

Nevertheless, Borders new format was obviously giving customers what they wanted and needed. In addition to its unique, state-of-the-art inventory and ordering system, Borders' employee base was another of its major boons; most employees were full-time and college-educated, and all were tested for their knowledge of literature and music prior to hiring.

Additionally, the bookstore chain prided itself on first-rate customer service, offering patrons a wide range of services, from locating out-of-print titles to community activities like children's storytelling hours and poetry readings. Rounding out Borders' offerings were growing varieties of alternative educational and informational media, from videos to CD-ROMs, a relaxing and comfortable environment that encouraged customers to linger, and the ubiquitous espresso bars.

In , 82 of the company's 88 superstores had espresso bars, and all new stores were scheduled to have them. Since the majority of Borders' superstores were built following the early s, the company's success by had been swift and immediate.