Waldenbooks in Danville mall scheduled to close
DANVILLE – The Waldenbooks at the Village Mall is one of 200 mall-based Waldenbooks stores that the Borders chain plans to close, according to an announcement Thursday.
The Borders Group intends to close the stores in January, although the list of stores is not final and is subject to change, pending finalization of agreements in coming weeks, according to the company's news release posted on its Web site Thursday.
Cindy Compton, general manager of the Village Mall in Danville, said late Thursday afternoon she had not yet spoken with Borders officials and was awaiting their call to discuss the situation.
"Our position is that we will see what we can do to convince them to reconsider our site," Compton said. "They have been a wonderful, valuable tenant."
Compton said the Waldenbooks store has been at the Village Mall since 1984 and has an active lease with the mall, although she would not disclose any details of that agreement.
Mary Davis, spokeswoman with Borders Group, said she can't share details publicly about what might play into a store remaining open. She said the company does expect all the stores to close.
Despite the news, Compton said Waldenbooks will still have its kiosk, which sells calendars and other items, in the center of a mall wing for the upcoming holiday season as it has in the past.
Compton was not sure how many employees work at the Danville store.
The Borders news release stated that 1,500 positions, mostly part-time jobs, will be eliminated, and displaced employees will receive severance. Employees have been notified, and qualified individuals may be placed in other positions within Borders Group, according to the release.
Davis said the company is not disclosing numbers of employees at specific locations. But Davis added that 75 percent of the 1,500 positions are part-time.
The closings are part of an ongoing strategy to "right-size" the Waldenbooks Specialty Retail segment and emerge with a smaller, more profitable mall chain in fiscal 2010, according to the Borders announcement.
The 200 closings include eight stores at other Illinois malls in Aurora, Calumet City, Gurnee, Joliet, Lincolnwood, Marion, Peoria and Sterling. The company is leaving 130 other mall-based stores open.
"America has a number of malls that continue to do well and draw customer traffic even in the current economy," said Borders Group Chief Executive Officer Ron Marshall in the company news release. "We believe there remains an opportunity to profitably operate a much smaller Waldenbooks segment that complements our core Borders superstore business and continues to serve readers in their communities. Through this right-sizing, we will reduce the number of stores with operating losses, reduce our overall rent expense and lease-adjusted leverage and generate cash flow through sales and working capital reductions."
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