The closure of the second-largest bookstore chain will alter the landscape of the bookselling industry.
Borders' "Going out of business" signs summoned the masses throughout the weekend. Like Tower Records before it, Borders failed to embrace the digitalization of its industry. And also like Tower Records, Borders left its shareholders with nothing but tax writeoffs to show for their investments. Investors who choose to stay in this industry should accordingly survey its landscape following Borders' demise.
The winners
According to statistics from the Association of American Publishers, as booksellers shutter storefronts, e-book sales enjoy triple-digit percentage growth.
Amazon.com
While Apple
The losers
It is hard to dismiss the possibility that Borders' liquidation is the proverbial canary in the coal mine for Barnes & Noble
That Starbucks
The end of a chapter
The era of chain bricks-and-mortar bookstores is coming to a close. The final chapter has yet to be written, but readers as well as investors should embrace these changes now, for the benefit of both themselves and their portfolios.
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