So Borders is in administration • 26 November 2009 • The SnowBlog
So Borders is in administration
You'd have thought this would be the moment of panic; this the point at which I throw my hands up and say 'well that's a lost customer'. Truth is, Borders and their sub brand Books Etc have bought hardly anything from us for the whole year. Our current balance with them is about 100. So on the plus side, if they go bust as a result of being in administration, our cash flow will hardly notice and we won't have to write off any debt. On the downside, it's already been a full year without a retailer who used to account for nearly 20% of our turnover, and it looks like that situation isn't going to change any time soon. Rumour had it that the buying team's budget was slashed, with a veto on buying anything much at all.
My view is that demand switches, though, rather than disappears. I hope that indie retailers do well out of it, although I suspect Amazon will do better (and Amazon, as I've said before, have returned about 3 copies of books in the last five years and buy about 3000 worth a month, so regardless of what you think about them, they're this indie publisher's friend). I suspect, though, that the 'drunk at 10.30pm in Charing X, pop into Borders to use the loos, buy a book on the way out' dollar is lost forever. I wonder what percentage of Borders' revenue that was?
And, obviously, thoughts are with all the fine people in the Borders team. Looks like it's yet another ruined Christmas for friends in the booktrade.
Emma
You'd have thought this would be the moment of panic; this the point at which I throw my hands up and say 'well that's a lost customer'. Truth is, Borders and their sub brand Books Etc have bought hardly anything from us for the whole year. Our current balance with them is about 100. So on the plus side, if they go bust as a result of being in administration, our cash flow will hardly notice and we won't have to write off any debt. On the downside, it's already been a full year without a retailer who used to account for nearly 20% of our turnover, and it looks like that situation isn't going to change any time soon. Rumour had it that the buying team's budget was slashed, with a veto on buying anything much at all.
My view is that demand switches, though, rather than disappears. I hope that indie retailers do well out of it, although I suspect Amazon will do better (and Amazon, as I've said before, have returned about 3 copies of books in the last five years and buy about 3000 worth a month, so regardless of what you think about them, they're this indie publisher's friend). I suspect, though, that the 'drunk at 10.30pm in Charing X, pop into Borders to use the loos, buy a book on the way out' dollar is lost forever. I wonder what percentage of Borders' revenue that was?
And, obviously, thoughts are with all the fine people in the Borders team. Looks like it's yet another ruined Christmas for friends in the booktrade.