Continue reading Borders CEO Ditches Books for Groceries

Borders CEO Ditches Books for Groceries originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Massive bookselling chain Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP) reported today that holiday sales for the nine-week period ended Jan. 3 fell to $868.8 million, down 11.7% from a year ago. Same-store sales for the holiday season plunged 14.4%. The retailer said that holiday sales started off slow, but accelerated as the season continued.

Additionally, the bookseller said that CEO George Jones will be replaced by private equity executive Ron Marshall. The new chief executive has previously helmed turnarounds at food distributor Nash Finch Co. and supermarket chain Pathmark Stores Inc. Borders stated that the new appointment will help to "more aggressively drive a turnaround of the company within today's challenging economy."

Borders Group is also getting a new chief financial officer; Mark Bierley will be internally promoted to the position, replacing Ed Wilhelm.

BGP could definitely benefit from Marshall's turnaround prowess. The stock has endured a stomach-churning 52-week plunge of 95.2%, and is currently trading below 50 cents per share. By contrast, competitor Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) surged more than 9% today after scoring an upgrade from Sell to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.

Borders Group confesses to plunging holiday sales, names new CEO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.