Shares of book retailer Borders Group Inc. (NYSE: BGP) traded down 4.72% today as the company reported less than stellar earnings. The company lost 61 cents per share, compared to 31 cents in the same quarter last year. Same-store sales at the flagship Borders superstores declined 1.9%.
As I wrote in March, I don't really understand the company's strategy. They slashed their customer rewards program, making their books even more overpriced compared to online bookstores like Amazon.com (NYSE: AMZN). That move has done little inspire customer loyalty, and it's actually hilarious going into a Borders stores and watching the hapless clerk try to explain to a confused customer how the new program really isn't that terrible -- even though it is:
The company's plan is to start its own website to compete with Amazon. Currently, the companies have a partnership. I can't even imagine why Borders thinks it can do online bookselling better than Amazon, and until they show that they can, I would stay far away from this stock.
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