SINGAPORE : The Borders Bookstore at Wheelock Place has entered its last chapter. It is closing its flagship store for good following disputes with its landlord.
The store has less than a week to clear out from its current premises.
For the past few days now, book lovers only saw a 'The Store is Closed' sign at the entrance of the bookstore at Wheelock Place.
Then, on Friday afternoon, staff of the bookstore at Wheelock Place were seen clearing the shelves.
Singapore's
Borders Bookstore had stood strong even as its US and Australia
branches closed one by one, struggling to keep up with digital media.
But
it is not free of troubles either, as a dispute with its landlord
Wheelock Properties seems to have shut its flagship store for good.
Tim
Reid, interim judicial manager of Borders, said: "The rent cheque for
August was not paid in the beginning of the month. And when the cheque
was issued, initially there were some errors in the cheque - the amount
and words did not reflect the amount and digits, and there was a need
for a new cheque to be issued.
"The landlord requested a cashier's order but the cashier's order was not delivered within the timeline that was asked for."
Mr Reid that said to his knowledge, Borders does not have a history of late payment for its rent.
However,
Wheelock Properties was not willing to alter its position that the
Borders store remain closed, despite the store's attempt to negotiate.
Borders
is one of the most iconic stores at Wheelock Place. Although the book
chain has another store at Parkway Parade, many book lovers MediaCorp
spoke to were surprised and concerned that the store at Wheelock Place
remained closed.
One person said: "It is a shame...if it is
closing, because it is a place for people to hang out; it is not just a
place to pick up books, people kind of meet here, and it is strange to
see it is going."
Another added: "It is a pity because this is really good location, it is really nice, I liked it very much."
A
third noted: "Right now, I think bookstores are getting more and more
outdated with the Internet going on, we can easily get books online, and
so I personally won't visit bookstores."
Its judicial manager said the priority now is to remove Borders' stock from its premises by August 23.
Some
of the books will be transferred to its Parkway Parade branch, while
the rest will be sold at a discounted price at a book sale.
One
customer commented: "I usually read a lot of novels and I usually buy
them from Borders also. So if they are to have a big sale, then I think I
will probably go there."
Borders' judicial manager also said he may seek a buyer for the Singapore company.
A
judicial manager helps to rehabilitate a company or preserve part or
all of its business when it is in financial difficulty but is not
hopelessly insolvent.
There are no plans yet to open a new outlet.
- CNA/ms
Yes! It is finally closed! Wooohoo! Its an eyesore, shouldn't remained open.
new outlet? borders liquidated leh
im proud to say i no buy anything from there b4.
its more than meets the eye....
bookshops are outdated because of the internet.
that means mph, popular etc are going to close too?
the internet certainly has business impacts...and make the world as efficient as much as downsizing workers since its advent...
however, bookshops need to constantly catch the niche of the reading public...
for popular....they are well grounded in school texts and exam papers which made them established all these years...
Borders bookstore vouchers no longer valid
SINGAPORE: Vouchers and gift cards from Borders Singapore bookstore are no longer valid.
After hearing that the Borders store at Wheelock Place is shutting down, some people tried to use their vouchers on Saturday at its other outlet at Parkway Parade. But they were not allowed to do so.
The bookstore's judicial manager, Tim Reid, said the vouchers and gift cards cannot be used any longer.
He told Channel NewsAsia that the store plans to put in a process on its website for people with such vouchers to register.
The
flagship store at Wheelock Place has less than a week to clear out from
its current premises after a dispute with the landlord.
On Friday afternoon, staff of the bookstore at Wheelock Place were seen packing and clearing the shelves.
- CNA/ac/al
den my membership card hw???
they let all the cheapskates read there of coz close down lah.
Originally posted by FireIce:im proud to say i no buy anything from there b4.
Customers with unredeemed Borders vouchers can fill up redemption form
SINGAPORE: Borders bookstore is advising customers with unredeemed vouchers and gift cards to fill up forms, which will then be processed by a recovery firm.
This after the bookstore announced the closure of its flagship store at Wheelock Place, and all vouchers and gift cards being deemed as invalid.
The bookstore said
customers can fill in a form with their particulars and email it to
recovery firm Ferrier Hodgson. The email address is [email protected]. They
will then be notified of further updates.
However, some customers complained there has been no definite answer as to when such notifications will take place.
Some are also worried that the bookstore's outlet at Parkway Parade may also close down.
Staff there were unable to confirm this and said Border's assets and property are now under the control of Ferrier Hodgson.
One
Singaporean has expressed his or her disappointment at the closure of
the Borders bookstore at Wheelock Place, by placing a note on the
outside of the closed store.
The note reads "You can't do this to us?"
This
note was pasted next to another larger hand-written note by Borders
staff pasted on the inside - which said staff are "sorry for the
closure" and expressed "a heartfelt thank you to customers for a
legendary run here at Wheelock Place."
-CNA/ac
In its heyday, the Borders bookstore at Wheelock Place was the top-earning outlet of all the Borders chain stores. It pipped the other 1,200 stores worldwide and emerged tops in terms of sales dollars per sq ft.
That was in 2006. Last week, it closed shop, following the fate of the American and Australian stores, and went under judicial management.
What went wrong for this once-thriving bookstore that had changed book-selling in Singapore when it opened its 32,000 sq ft store in 1997?
Consumers say they have been turned off by Borders' poor book selection and proliferation of non-book products - including toys and cookware - in the past few years.
-- ST
Originally posted by QX179R:Customers with unredeemed Borders vouchers can fill up redemption form
SINGAPORE: Borders bookstore is advising customers with unredeemed vouchers and gift cards to fill up forms, which will then be processed by a recovery firm.
This after the bookstore announced the closure of its flagship store at Wheelock Place, and all vouchers and gift cards being deemed as invalid.
The bookstore said customers can fill in a form with their particulars and email it to recovery firm Ferrier Hodgson. The email address is [email protected]. They will then be notified of further updates.
However, some customers complained there has been no definite answer as to when such notifications will take place.
Some are also worried that the bookstore's outlet at Parkway Parade may also close down.
Staff there were unable to confirm this and said Border's assets and property are now under the control of Ferrier Hodgson.
One Singaporean has expressed his or her disappointment at the closure of the Borders bookstore at Wheelock Place, by placing a note on the outside of the closed store.
The note reads "You can't do this to us?"
This note was pasted next to another larger hand-written note by Borders staff pasted on the inside - which said staff are "sorry for the closure" and expressed "a heartfelt thank you to customers for a legendary run here at Wheelock Place."
-CNA/ac
anyone noticed that borders spelt 'privilege' wrgly on the note?
High Court places Borders under judicial management
SINGAPORE: The High Court has placed Borders bookstore under judicial management for six months.
It was revealed in court that Borders had taken several steps to improve its financial situation including the sale of Borders or its assets to Popular Holdings and negotiating with Everbilt Developers - its landlord at Wheelock Place - to half its rent at Wheelock Place from S$541,000 per month to S$275,000.
Under judicial management, Borders cannot be sued by any of its creditors.
The
company will explore options, such as talking to potential buyers to
prevent winding up. Borders is represented by Allen & Gledhill.
Its
leading counsel, Mr Edward Tiong said: "There is still hope the name of
Borders will continue as it has sentimental value for Singaporeans."
The
company is also in negotiations with REDgroup Retail - its parent
company in Australia - to obtain a formal release from the A$2.5 million
loan from REDgroup.
Borders' fate was tied up with REDgroup's
when it was acquired by the latter in 2008. REDGroup had also become
insolvent and placed under voluntary administration in Australia in
February this year.
According to court documents, this resulted
in Borders "no longer being able to leverage on the economies of scale,
established relationships or general advantages of operating as part of
a larger group, as it previously had."
Borders will also be
looking at the possibility of an arrangement where REDgroup agrees to
assign their rights to the Borders' debt such that Borders' employees,
gift card holders and creditors can be paid.
It was reported that there are some 1200 gift card holders with about S$400,000 in credit with the bookstore.
Borders
is also hoping to receive proceeds from its S$1.8 million in rental
deposits for its lease at Wheelock and Parkway Parade.
- CNA/fa/cc
prologue is the happiest liao.
total hong gan.
rental is 540k a month?
really siao.
Borders bookstore at Parkway Parade to shut
SINGAPORE: Thousands of bargain-hunters were at the Borders bookstore at Parkway Parade mall, lured by the 70 per cent sale this weekend ahead of its closure on Monday.
But up until about a week ago, there was still a scramble behind the scenes to keep the retailer afloat in Singapore.
The Parkway Parade
outlet - the retailer's second in Singapore - opened in 2007, a decade
after its first store opened in Wheelock Place.
"Prior to the
decision to close it, it was a little bit slow. We couldn't buy new
books either, so traffic was dropping significantly. We were booming the
first year we opened. Second year was quite good as well, but third
year it had actually declined. Book retailing has definitely changed;
the customer habits have definitely changed as well," said Elissa
Crosswell, sales manager of Borders Singapore.
On Wednesday,
Borders USA terminated its Brand License Agreement governing activities
in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, giving stores in those
countries 90 days to comply. Two days later, Borders Singapore announced
the Parkway Parade store will shut for good.
The closure of the
Parkway Parade store was not always a foregone conclusion. Up until
recently, corporate recovery firm Ferrier Hodgson was in talks with
about eight or nine retailers to take over the outlet, and it believed
it could have negotiated a separate licence agreement with Borders USA.
But
with the rental lease for the store running out in end-October, there
was simply not enough time for an agreement to be reached.
Tim
Reid, the judicial manager from Ferrier Hodgson, said besides finding
someone to buy the stock and take on the lease obligations, a priority
was to ensure continued employment for its 60 staff.
He said: "I
told all the parties, if I had two similar bids, the party that can
offer employment for as many of the staff who wish to carry on in this
industry - that is clearly going to be a very deciding factor."
Talks
started shortly after Reid was appointed in August. Most of the
companies that came forward were Singapore firms, though not all were
from the book industry.
Eventually, the decision was made to
shut, partly spurred by strong sales at the clearance sale for the
Wheelock outlet at the Singapore Expo earlier this month.
Parkway Parade's mall management had also offered to extend the lease, but was eventually turned down.
Reid
explained: "If I incur the overheads of extending the lease, and all
the staff costs for another month or even longer, the marginal benefit
of doing so reduces dramatically because we have only so much stock to
sell.
"And at a 70 percent discount, it would be inappropriate
for me to bring in more stock, because we are possibly selling that
stock at a significant loss."
The 60 employees of Borders
Singapore were told of the closure about a week ago, and will get help
in finding new jobs. About 30 of them on full-time contracts will also
be entitled to compensation.
"Morale back then was quite low, but
as a sales team we had to keep the staff happy. So now their morale is
quite high, and we're looking forward to sell off everything we have in
the store," said Azhari Zainal, department manager at Borders Singapore.
On Sunday, shelves were emptied as shoppers filled their baskets.
"Whenever
my mom comes to Parkway to shop at Giant or Cold Storage, she'll always
drop my brother and I here to read books. So now that Borders is
closing down, I can't do that anymore," lamented customer Mitchell Lim.
Reid
said he is seeking to give a "significant return" to gift card holders
who have made a claim against Borders, and has requested that those who
have not registered with the insolvency company to do so quickly.
He expects to give an answer in one or two months.
- CNA /ls
i prefer NLB, esp the HQ...at victoria street....
Originally posted by dragg:rental is 540k a month?
really siao.
now it's half that much. I wonder which store or what will take Borders' place.
restaurant without borders?
wah lao eh!!!
stop gng to bookstores to read books lah!
shameless.
so the privilege card still can use anot?
hw cm parkway parade has no $$$ to maintain their website ah?
www.parkwayparade.com.sg