Business & Tech
Borders in Brighton Begins Going-Out-of-Business Sales Friday
The Ann Arbor-based chain will be closing all of its stores by the end of September.
Today marked the beginning of the end for Borders book stores across the nation -- including the one in Brighton.
The Brighton , the only Borders location in Livingston County, began its first day of liquidation sales and deals on Friday.
Borders is advertising deals of up to 40 percent off in all stores on all items. However, the books at the Brighton location typically ranged from 10 to 30 percent off. DVDs and most CDs were 20 percent off. Greeting cards were among some of the items starting at 40 percent off.
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By mid-afternoon today the store was bustling with activity, helped by giant, bold-faced banners and employees holding signs outside of the store's location in the Brighton Town Square Shopping Center.
Mary Davis, spokesperson for Borders, said that length of liquidation sales depends on how fast the stores get rid of their merchandise. She said that most stores will be open until at least late September this year.
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While gift cards are still accepted and Border Rewards Plus members can use their points until Aug. 5, there are several discounts that will not be honored. Among those are AARP discounts, teacher discounts, any coupons and tax exempt cards.
People at Borders today were sad to know that the end is near for the book store chain.
"I think it's really a big shame, we like to come to Borders just to browse and we always find something," Hartland resident Joan Gryc said.
"It's really sad, I used to come here a lot," Pinckney resident Jennifer Berry said. She said she's going online to Amazon for books now, adding that she's not a fan of Barnes & Noble.
"I've been in there, I don't like the way it's laid out, it's not as user-friendly as this is," she said about Borders' chief competitor, Barnes & Noble. Brighton has a franchise in the Green Oak Village Place mall.
Borders filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, and announced it was liquidating the rest of its stores earlier this week after they failed to find a last-minute bidder to save the franchise.
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