The decision by Borders to file for bankruptcy protection is hardly a surprise. The real question is does the Borders bankruptcy signal the end of major bookstores? 

Borders was really the perfection of the super bookstore ideal. If you have one near you, you probably spent endless hours in it browsing through books. The problem is the company utterly failed to see the future of books and was burdened by management that could only be described as incompetent buffoons of the highest order. While everyone else went digital, Borders never evolved and now is paying the price.

To understand the incompetence of Borders management, one needs only look at its online fiasco. In 2001, it made the bonehead decision to hookup with Amazon for online sales. While Amazon is certainly a stellar company, this effectively ceded any branding that Borders might have received to Amazon. It wasn’t until 2008 that Borders suddenly tried to establish its own online site. Think about that for a minute. 2008. That is pathetic.

Then there is the evolution of the bookstore. Amazon has redefined things with Kindle. Even laggard Barnes & Noble came out with their own device. The iPad of course added to the competition. And what did Borders respond with? Nothing. Apparently the executives of the company were reading “How To Destroy A Company For Dummies” books or something. 

Ah, but Borders still had the dominant position in the brick and mortar world right? Nope. The problem was discount retailers like Walmart started aggressively selling books as well. In short, Borders failed to evolve to meet a new threat online and didn’t even move to defend its traditional turf in the brick and mortar world. 

Borders has announced it is closing about 200 of its 650 stores. It hopes to come up with a reorganization plan and then come out of bankruptcy. How is this for a plan? Fire the board and every single officer of the company! A baboon could do better.