Video: Borders(R) Launches New E-Commerce Site

Borders.com features unique Magic Shelf(TM) technology and exclusive video programming that brings a real bookstore experience online In-store kiosks will introduce Borders.com shopping option in Bor

ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- After seven years of being teamed with Amazon.com for e-commerce, it's independence day for Borders as the company today launches its own new e-commerce site that is rich with innovative features and positions Borders as a leader in delivering a true cross-channel experience for customers.

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"Today is another milestone for our company as we launch Borders.com, a site that is much more than just another place to shop on the Web -- it is a source of information and entertainment that brings a real bookstore experience to life online," said Borders Group Chief Executive Officer George Jones. "What's more-Borders already has existing computer kiosks in all of our stores nationwide, and now we can bring the new Borders.com site to these kiosks over the next couple of months. By creatively combining the assets of our new online channel with the many advantages of our stores and vice versa, we're now giving customers an elevated experience that we believe they'll find more satisfying than anything else in bookselling today."

Specifically, the new Borders.com site includes innovative features such as the Magic Shelf(TM) and Borders Media original and exclusive video programming, as well as offering Borders Rewards members their first opportunity to earn and redeem their "Borders Bucks" and Rewards coupons online.

-- The Magic Shelf - The most prominent feature on the new Borders.com
homepage is the Magic Shelf. Capturing the essence of the Borders store
experience, the Magic Shelf allows customers to easily view book, music
and movie titles, much the way they browse the book tables, displays
and shelves that they love to explore in their favorite Borders stores.
The simple-to-navigate Magic Shelf can be expanded up and down and side
to side by the user, revealing a wider array of titles -- 20 shelves of
titles in all. Customers interested in a title on the Magic Shelf
simply click on the item and use "Quick View" to learn more or even buy
the item immediately right from the Magic Shelf. Customers can
personalize the Magic Shelf by using the "Picked for You" feature.
Customers simply select categories of interest -- such as mystery
books, jazz music or foreign films. Then -- true to its name -- the
Magic Shelf reloads instantaneously, stocking the "Picked for You"
shelf with titles uniquely suited to the customer. Once preferences
have been selected, when the customer returns to Borders.com the
"Picked for You" shelf will be re-stocked with a thoughtful and
personalized selection that is refreshed week to week. In addition to
"Picked for You," the Magic Shelf has a menu of options highlighting
interesting and relevant themes such as "new for kids," "laugh out
loud," and "for sports fans." Like displays in Borders stores, these
groupings will change frequently to remain current and relevant to the
seasons.

"The process of developing our new e-commerce site has been a bit like catching lightning in a bottle," said Borders Group Vice President of E-Business Kevin Ertell. "We have something special here that successfully captures the warmth, inspiration and sense of discovery of Borders stores and brings it to customers online through innovations like the Magic Shelf and our original and exclusive video programming. With so much of the store experience at the heart of the site and with the site coming to our stores, we are truly achieving something groundbreaking here in cross-channel retailing. Our customers deserve a seamless experience with Borders that remains consistently satisfying no matter what the time or place. It's an exciting time!"

-- Borders Media - One characteristic that book, music and movie lovers
share is their drive to delve deeper into topics that interest them and
to engage in lifelong learning. That is why the new Borders.com site
prominently features Borders Media, a collection of exclusive and
original video programs created by Borders. Borders was the first in
the bookselling industry to develop and share this type of proprietary
programming beginning in 2007 and it continues to explode in popularity
and influence in the publishing world. Now available to a wider
audience via the new Borders.com, programs include:
-- "Borders Book Club" - A professionally produced video program featuring
real-life neighborhood book club meetings but with the author there in
person for the discussion! Always compelling and thought-provoking,
this program has featured such bestselling authors as Mitch Albom,
Marisa de los Santos, Stephenie Meyer, Khaled Hosseini, Elizabeth
Gilbert and Lalita Tademy, among others. Borders also posts resources
for book clubs, such as discussion guides, and even recipes for book
clubs to enjoy.
-- "Live at 01" - Capturing all the energy and intimacy of a Borders
in-store event recorded live at Borders' first store in Ann Arbor, this
program has featured everyone from authors such as Pulitzer Prize
winner Junot Diaz and Anne Lamott to singer Joss Stone and physician
and author Deepak Chopra.
-- "Borders Kitchen" - Bringing the hottest chefs from bookshelves and
television screens to Borders.com, the Borders Kitchen program, with
guests such as Nigella Lawson, Lidia Bastianich and Mario Batali, is a
cooking lesson and book club all in one. Recipes can be emailed to
friends and full programs can be downloaded.
-- "Borders Open Door Poetry" - One of the newest Borders Media programs
and one of the hottest, Open Door Poetry showcases some of today's most
compelling poets -- Mark Strand, Robert Pinsky, Patricia Smith and
Jorie Graham -- reading their work, discussing their art, and even
advising aspiring poets.
-- "Borders Presents" - Special in-depth interviews with talents such as
Julie Andrews, John Grisham and Joel Osteen who are brought exclusively
to Borders customers on programs that can be enjoyed in the moment or
downloaded as video podcasts to be viewed later.
-- "Borders Advice for Living with Mel Robbins" - Respected life coach Mel
Robbins, who hosts her own national radio show and is a regular network
television contributor, provides no-nonsense advice to help people get
what they want out of their lives and careers. Her Borders Media
segments have included guest spots with everyone from singer Mandy
Moore and mogul Donald Trump to doctors Oz and Roizen and Bill Cosby. A
new feature is "Hey Mel," a video advice column where Mel Robbins
tackles viewer questions and shares her straight-talking advice.
Robbins' daily nationally-syndicated radio program, "Make it Happen,"
is also available exclusively online at the Borders Media tab on
Borders.com .
-- Borders Rewards(R) - Since 2006, Borders has offered customers free
membership in this fast-growing loyalty program that now has over 26
million members. Until now, members could only earn and redeem their
"Borders Bucks" and Rewards coupons in our stores. With the advent of
the new Borders.com, customers can take full advantage of the program
online as well. In addition, when Borders Rewards customers receive
their weekly "Borders Shortlist" e-mail, which is always full of
thoughtful recommendations and savings opportunities, they will
continue to receive direct links to Borders Media programming.

"With the new Borders.com, we have significantly enhanced the value of being a Borders Rewards member," said Borders Group Executive Vice President of Merchandising and Marketing Rob Gruen. "Rewards members are our best customers, and giving them the opportunity to use the loyalty program when they shop online is something they've been looking forward to since the program started. Not only that, but with interest exploding in our Borders Shortlist e-mail program, giving customers the opportunity to immediately buy featured items is another important convenience."

-- Staff and Customer Recommendations - Borders stores employ some of the
most knowledgeable people in the industry who are more than willing to
share their recommendations with customers who visit Borders stores.
Now, they'll be sharing those same favorites with the world as
Borders.com will feature recommendations from Borders staff as well as
from customers nationwide.
-- Check Inventory and Reserve - From Borders.com, shoppers can check
inventory at their local Borders store and reserve an item for pick up
later. In addition, customers can also order an item online from home
or work or even via Borders' in-store kiosks and have it shipped either
to their homes or to the store. Standard shipping of orders going to
the Borders store is free and on orders shipped to home, standard
shipping is free on purchases that exceed $25. There are any number of
possible combinations of browsing and buying with the Borders
cross-channel strategy giving customers the ultimate in convenience
that truly suits their needs at any time and any place.
-- Wish Lists - Customers often jot down books of interest on scraps of
papers that they later fish around for in their pockets and hand bags
when they come to the store to purchase them. To solve that seemingly
universal problem, Borders.com provides the opportunity for customers
to compile online wish lists at home or work and access their lists on
the computer kiosks within Borders stores. They simply come in, look up
their wish list, print it and go shopping! Of course, wish lists on
Borders.com can also be emailed directly to the in-boxes of friends and
family.
-- Borders Marketplace - Teamed with Alibris, the new Borders.com will
feature a Marketplace where millions of rare and used books will be
available to Borders customers.
-- Send to a Friend - The new Borders.com has so much fascinating content
that customers will find something on every section of the site that
they will want to share with a friend. That is why Borders.com has
provided a great looking "Send to a Friend" e-mail format that allows
customers to tell friends about books they'll truly love, recipes that
sound delicious and original video that they absolutely must see.
-- Gift Cards and Returns - One of the most popular items at Borders is
the gift card which can be purchased and used online or in Borders
stores. In addition, items bought on Borders.com can be returned in
Borders stores nationwide, saving customers a trip to the post office.

"When I arrived at the company in 2006, there was no doubt in my mind that Borders needed its own e-commerce site to be successful. I am thrilled with the way this site turned out and am confident that the cross-channel experience it delivers will be one of the cornerstones of our company's long-term success. We've invested significant capital and resources in the development of this new site and are delighted that with its launch, we can move it forward from pure investment to a sales and profit generator," said CEO Jones.

About Borders Group

Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., Borders Group, Inc. is a $3.8 billion retailer of books, music and movies with more than 1,100 stores and approximately 30,000 employees worldwide. More information on the company is available at www.bordersgroupinc.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. One can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "projects," "expect," "estimated," "look toward," "going forward," "continuing," "planning," "returning," "guidance," "goal," "will," "may," "intend," "anticipates," and other words of similar meaning. One can also identify them by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements are likely to address matters such as the company's future financial performance (including earnings per share growth, EBIT margins and inventory turns, liquidity, same-store sales growth, and anticipated capital expenditures and depreciation and amortization amounts), its exploration of strategic alternatives, its financing agreement with Pershing Square and the benefits thereof, strategic plans and expected financing and benefits relating to such plans (including steps to be taken to improve the performance of domestic superstores, the downsizing of the Waldenbooks Specialty Retail Segment and the performance and benefits of the company's proprietary Web site). These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and plans to differ materially from those included in the company's forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, consumer demand for the company's products, particularly during the holiday season, which is believed to be related to general economic and geopolitical conditions, competition and other factors; the availability of adequate capital to fund the company's operations and to carry out its strategic plans; the performance of the company's information technology systems and the development of improvements to the systems necessary to implement the company's strategic plan, and, with respect to the exploration of strategic alternatives including the sale of certain parts of the company or the sale of the entire company, the ability to attract interested third parties. The company's periodic reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission contain more detailed discussions of these and other risk factors that could cause actual results and plans to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements, and those discussions are incorporated herein by reference. The company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.

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Source: Borders Group, Inc.

CONTACT: Anne Roman, +1-734-477-1392, or Mary Davis, +1-734-477-1374,
both for Borders Group, Inc.

Web site: http://www.bordersgroupinc.com/
http://www.borders.com/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/106169.html

2008-05-27 09:39:48 0370549 PRNEWSWIRE