Alabama-based Books-A-Million has put in a bid to buy at least 30 Borders stores, reports the International Business Times, although it’s possible that number could jump as high as 35. The offer is for 21 Borders superstores and 9 smaller stores, and around half of the locations are in the northeast, where Books-A-Million wants to expand (7 are located in Pennsylvania alone). If the bid is accepted, BAM would take over the inventory and merchandise and renegotiate the leases. The article also notes that “as many as 1,000 to 1,500 jobs” could be saved.

Books-A-Million is not without its own troubles. The bookseller currently has 230 stores in 23 states and the District of Columbia, and in May it reported that 1Q sales fell by 11%, and by 13% at stores open at least a year, for a net loss of $3.5 million compared to a $2 million profit a year earlier. Its stock price has been on a downward trend lately, dropping 23% since May, and yesterday shares hit a 52-week low. It rose slightly by the end of the day, but I’m pretty sure this news hit after the markets closed.

(Photo: M.Markus)

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