Which one will win? I think we know the answer. Borders group looks like they are very close to throwing in the towel with ...though this post is more about why Borders is where they are and where they could have been if it were not for their addiction to adding more stories in every single urban sprawled city in America where most of the markets were already dominated by BKS. 


The building out of strip malls and mega big box developments on the outskirts of medium to large size towns was a sure product of the commercial real estate boom from 2004ish till shit hit hit the fan in mid mid 2008. Borders took up a lot of the anchor store spots in these over developed
blacktopped impossible to get in and out of "pavilions". This anchors stores i believe are what spread the Borders butter to thin, they simply could not keep up with the the jones'. 


Per my personal experience BKS has better atmosphere, a better pairing of cafe with SBUX. BKS plain and simple have better brand awareness and anchor store positioning, which a lot of BKS stores real estate is owned by the company, BGP not the case. Too bad BGP stock has already cratered, some traders who were able to foresee this pairs trade did well over he course of the last year or so.. 

()  "Borders Group Inc. said Monday that two of its top executives have resigned.

The company said D. Scott Laverty, the retailer's chief information officer, resigned Monday, a day after Thomas D. Carney, general counsel and secretary, stepped down.

Borders didn't say why Laverty or Carney is leaving.

The nation's second-largest bookseller has been struggling to refinance its debt and has had to delay payments to some of its vendors to preserve cash.

Last month, the company reported that its third-quarter loss was bigger than a year earlier and its sales had fallen steeply. Just a few days earlier, activist investor William Ackman offered to finance a Borders bid to take over its much larger rival, Barnes & Noble Inc."