Borders Books and Music is a North American chain of bookstores, with some branches overseas. Borders is (as of 2004) the second-largest bookstore chain in the United States, selling a wide range of books, CDs and DVDs, plus related accessories. Borders stores frequently feature coffee bars or snack shops.
The original Borders bookstore is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where it was founded in 1971 by brothers Tom and Louis Borders . The Borders brothers' inventory system tailored each store's offerings to the community it was in. This may have contributed to the chain's rapid expansion nationwide. K-Mart acquired Borders and its rival Waldenbooks in 1994, but a stock buyback enabled Borders and Waldenbooks to form its own corporation, the Borders Group. There are now approximately 420 Borders stores across the United States, with another 35 outside the country.
The essayist Sven Birkerts worked at the flagship Borders store on Liberty Street in Ann Arbor during the 1970s and wrote about his experiences in The Gutenberg Elegies . Writer Benjamin Cheever also wrote about his brief tenure as a Borders employee in Selling Ben Cheever .
Diversity
Borders received a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign starting in 2004, the third year of the report.
Unions
Borders retail employees at two store locations in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Ann Arbor are currently represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW). More information about Borders workers union organizing efforts and an employee discussion board can be found at www.bordersunion.org.
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