Borders closing 400 STORES, 11,000 jobs lost more unemployed

7/18/2011


It was just announced Borders will close it's remaining 400 stores
and fire 11,000 employees , more un-employment !


Cheers..Joe

Aw Phooey!

7/18/2011


Here's the full story on Borders, here another one will
close, they already closed one of the largest ones here,
it's a huge Borders in a small mall.....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43797505/ns/business-consumer_news/


Cheers..Joe

It isn't hard to figure out why.

Few people care to drive park and then pay more for a book than on Amazon online.

The neat thing about online is it never closes, and the ebooks you can have immediately.

Life changes. Blockbuster closed their stores. My dvd player is a waste - if I want a movie I find it on my tv. I hear PC's are on their way out with the advent of smart phones - even tablets are passe-

All those changes mean job losses. Every Walmart closes many small businesses. Perhaps we will all need to learn to live a simpler life and to help each other as families once did. Perhaps families will continue filling up those empty, big houses.

My neighbor has two sons and their families in the house she rambled in alone.

I don't know. I am so very fortunate to have some social security and medicare - I worked for it - 51 years. I contributed to social security for 51 years. I'm sure I've paid for my share since so far I am quite healthy.

Those who are without jobs and without unemployment - what a test and a challenge. We really do need programs of retraining that tie directly to potential jobs.

Maybe the joke about people getting in trucks and heading for Mexico isn't such a joke. People may have to travel in search of income. There must be job somewhere.

In my community, the banks still hire tellers. The groceries hire baggers and even supervisors. There are a handful of jobs.

There's always sales for those so inclined.

The trees are happy. For every bad thing, there is always a something good. For every good thing, there is always a bad outcome. Which would you rather have?

It is sad to lose so many jobs. Now they will have to eat the trees to survive! That is an attempt at humor. I can't see folks munching on the trees.

I went to Home Depot the other day.
There was one long line ... for the self check out machines.
ONE cashier was there to assist the people using the four self check outs.

One cashier. I applied for a job at Home Depot months ago. They obviously NEED workers. But I never heard from them.

A report on the news indicates that open positions are being filled by job changers, not the unemployed. It's a case of musical jobs. Those already employed look the best to the potential new employer; thus, the limited jobs are filled by those who are seeking something else. The unemployed are not considered a good bet by the employers with openings. The longer the unemployment, the less chance of gaining a position. In a different economy, it would be a time to try for independent employment; but there's little chance of gaining an income that way when people are cutting back on spending.

As I've stated previously, "With every adversity there is a benefit". The hard times many are experiencing may lead to better times through change. "To grow, to progress, means change". Change will occur when we feel the need for it and often we must demand it. Many are feeling the need for change.
The rich don't want change. They want to keep things the way they are. Many of the unemployed and the poor are becoming desperate.
Those of us who read history, understand the cause of revolution and the steps people were forced to take. Many died for the liberty that their descendants enjoy today.
The early Americans revolted and many died for liberty and justice. I think we became complacent assuming that the good times would continue. It is time to start doing the things that created our prosperity. It is time to speak out against injustice, as many are doing. If words fail, then stronger measures are needed. We can't give up. Our future will be as we make it. Do we accept injustice? Do we accept what is thrust upon us or do we say, no. No!
Encourage everyone you know to vote. Investigate the candidates for political office. Do they have integrity?
In recent months we have witnessed commoners becoming royalty. In the past we have seen a peanut farmer become President. Everything is possible. Just because someone has the money to buy their way to the top doesn't mean we have to accept it. It's time to elect people who have walked in the shoes of the people they intend to govern.
Just my two cents.

The currently employed have always been preferred over the unemployed. This is nothing new.

It might be a new idea to those who have never been unemployed before.
I wouldn't feel very confident job hunting just now.



Job hunting is very hard, demoralizing work at this time.

You may be excluded because of age, lack of a job now, social networking.



Very difficult times.

alice wrote:

It isn't hard to figure out why.

Few people care to drive park and then pay more for a book than on Amazon online.

The neat thing about online is it never closes, and the ebooks you can have immediately.

That's not exactly right. Borders got purchased in a leverage buyout a number of years back. That means that a hedge fund bought the company with borrowed money and put the company up as collateral. Suddenly Borders now has a whole bunch of debt that didn't do anything to help the company, simply bought out the prior owner. When you have that much debt even a small drop in revenue can send you into bankruptcy. Now add in changes to the way the Bankruptcy code handles leases made under the Bush administration and companies that would once be restructered and now on the fast track to liquidation. Falling sales are not helping anything (nor are $9 paperbacks) but the sudden end of the reading world is not upon us. On the other hand if all the big chain stores go into liquidation, it'll be at least a decade before small chains replace them.

Recently a local, high-end furniture store went under with lay-offs to hundreds of local people.

The major partners have just announced they will start a similar business again.

The facts that the general public understands are such a small piece of the actual business activity, positive or negative.

The best we can do is understand how we are personally impacted at that moment in time.

My only experience with our local Borders was being stiffed for $250 in books for which no amount of billing ever accomplished payment. The local sales staff was exceptional and my problems with their corporation impacted my image of Borders overall.

The fact that they closed reduced the number of places to browse for books and enjoy a cup of coffee with book-loving friends. It reduced local competition with Barnes and Noble. No independent booksellers have survived the big box stores so no issue there. The local economy is hurt by one more business going under; the mall by losing another anchor store and more unemployed people is an economic and social detriment.

Beyond that, what went on in the corporate arena is between the accountants, the attorneys and the regulations governing corporations.