Despite losing a reported $300 million over the last two years, management continues with "business as usual." Recently I saw a team of traveling Borders' high-echelon inspectors (one of their many high-cost parades) in which an individual ran his finger over the top of a shelf checking for dust! Meanwhile, all decisions are made at headquarters, and staff waste endless hours reshuffling books and magazines according to Minneapolis' direction. Stupid and expensive - yes! But then why does one local store (Scottsdale Waterfront) continually lag another (Camelback - Biltmore) in stacking new titles? Seems like a problem with local management as well.

Suggestion: Use bankruptcy law to break existing high-cost leases; move from those that refuse to substantially lower rents. (All retail is stressed now - owners don't have much leverage. Move from those that refuse to lower rents.) Substantially lower overheads, beginning with Minneapolis, but also including local stores. Reduce the number of volumes carried in each store - instead, carry low-volume items in a central inventory with quick shipment response (aka Amazon). Finally, take advantage of normal employee attrition to reduce employee work-load, cut costs and prices, and build sales.