Waldenbooks set to close

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November 6, 2009

BY JENNIFER BAILEY The Commercial-News Fri Nov 06, 2009, 03:11 PM CST

DANVILLE — In January, the city will lose its second bookstore.

Waldenbooks in the Village Mall is on a list of anticipated closings of Waldenbooks specialty retail stores. The 200 stores nationwide are expected to close by the end of January.

The closure will follow the longtime used bookstore, The Dragon’s Horde, known for years as Book World, which will close Nov. 20.

Waldenbooks opened in the mid-1980s at the Village Mall. It employs 12 employees at the store and the Day By Day Calendar kiosk that soon will open in the mall for the holidays.

Store manager Carrie Lindsey said she’s trying to put off her crying.

“I feel like I’m losing a family member,” she said.

Lindsey started working at the store part-time in 1987.

The store remains busy, but “it’s just corporate,” Lindsey said.

Village Mall Facility Manager Cindy Compton still hoped Friday to talk to Borders officials.

“We’ll talk to the real estate department to see if there is something we can do (to have Borders) reconsider the site,” Compton said.

She’s also not sure if the calendar store kiosk will return for future holiday seasons.

“They have been a great tenant for us,” Compton said of Waldenbooks.

She said it’s disappointing the store is leaving.

Borders Group Inc. announced Thursday it would close more of its small-format Waldenbooks stores in January as it focuses on its more profitable superstores.

The company is closing 200 Waldenbooks stores and cutting 1,500 jobs to make the chain smaller and more profitable. About 130 mall-based stores will remain open. Borders, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., said the closings will not affect any of its mall kiosks, including 500 Day by Day Calendar Co. spots.

Borders has been slowly closing Waldenbooks. It shut down 112 stores in fiscal year 2008 and an average of about 66 stores each year between fiscal years 2001 through 2007.

Borders chief rival, Barnes & Noble, based in New York, said last month it would close all of its remaining 50 B. Dalton stores by the end of January.

Previously purchased gift cards will be valid as long as the stores remain open and at any Borders, Waldenbooks or Borders.com, the company said.

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