The bookstore chain giant, Borders Group Inc, is currently working on reorganizing the company while protected by Chapter 11 bankruptcy status. On Thursday, the company appealed to a bankruptcy judge to be given more time to put together a plan for exiting bankruptcy. Borders’ attorneys said that the company was suddenly getting multiple offers to buy some or all of its stores still in operation and wanted more time to negotiate a sale.
Borders had until June 16 to come up with a plan or other groups would be given the opportunity to come up with a reorganization plan for Borders or plan to buy the company. The judge sided with Borders over the company’s creditors and granted a 120-day extension.
According to Reuters, one of Borders’ plans for reorganization is to provide more services in-house. For example, Borders wants to end its contract with Seattle’s Best Coffee, the company that runs its coffee shops, and run the coffee shops on its own. According to Reuters, Seattle’s Best had coffee shops in 400 Borders stores before the bankruptcy filing. Now Borders only has 175 stores still in operation.
The two companies are going to court over the broken contract. Seattle’s Best says that it understands that Borders can legally break the contract while in bankruptcy, but it doesn’t want to continue in the stores now with its products and trademarks, while Borders is planning a replacement.
Like other “brick-and-mortar” stores, Borders has struggled to compete with competitors who sell goods mostly online. Blockbuster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year after struggling to compete with Netflix.
Source:
Borders lawyer says multiple parties eyeing stores (Reuters)
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