SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Bookseller Borders Group Inc said on Thursday it plans to close its Michigan Avenue store in Chicago in January 2010 as part of the company’s ongoing cost-cutting plan.
The store on Chicago’s high-end shopping strip, which employs approximately 100 employees, has not met the company’s profit objectives “for some time now,” Steve Davis, senior vice president of group operations, said in a statement.
Borders said it still has 19 stores in the Chicago area and said it would work with Michigan Avenue employees to move them to other jobs where possible.
Borders has been focused on expense management since Chief Executive Ron Marshall took the helm after the ouster of former CEO George Jones in January. It has cut corporate jobs and eliminated vice president and director positions.
The No. 2 brick-and-mortar bookseller behind Barnes & Noble Inc has been trying to reduce its debt as it struggles with slumping sales that have plagued the sector.
The company, which operates stores under the Borders and Waldenbooks names, has about 27,000 employees.
Shares of Borders closed down 1 cent at 58 cents on the New York Stock Exchange.
Reporting by Alexandria Sage; Editing by Gary Hill
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