Shame On You, Borders!

Filed Under: Icky Icky Poo Wacky, Tacky & True Business Blitz

We are horrified!!

This is NOT ok!

Just like H&M and Walmart, who destroy perfectly good unsold clothing rather than donating it to charity, Borders is apparently planning to destroy tens of thousands of books when they close more than 200 Waldenbooks stores later this month.

Thankfully, a few employees of the bookstore chain have come forth to out the evil plans, starting a Facebook group in protest. The aim of the employees in revolt is to spread the news as broadly as possible, in hopes that after being exposed, Borders will instead donate the books.

Apparently, the plan was to strip unsold books of their covers, box them and ship them to undisclosed warehouses to destroy them.

How very Fahrenheit 451 of them.

Just think of how many organizations could use free books. Thousands upon thousands! Shelters, adult learning centers, tutoring programs, public libraries, not to mention schools.

And, to make Borders even more appalling, not only are they snubbing the whole notion of "giving back" by not offering donations, but they're actively turning down organizations in need. In response to a request from the Parnell Memorial Library in Alabama, Borders replied:

12/11/2009
Dear Parnell Memorial Library, Thank you for your inquiry regarding Waldenbooks store stock. We agree that donating books is a worthy concept. However, we do not expect to have any remaining product to donate once we complete clearance sales at the 200 Waldenbooks stores that we plan to close in January 2010. To explain, we have retained the services of an outside firm that specializes in store closings/clearance sales. This firm has structured a process for these sales that involves discounting, moving product that is not selling to higher volume stores and consolidating inventory. Through this process, we sincerely expect to have virtually no product left our goal is to sell everything. Therefore, we do not expect to have product to donate or to dispose of. I hope this addresses your concerns. Thank you again for writing. I hope this is helpful. If you should have any other questions or comments, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Apparently, it's cheaper to destroy of the books than it is to orchestrate donations.

In a time of great need, this is so disgustingly greedy. We can't let Borders get away with this reprehensible plan!!

Visit DonateNotDumpster.org to help put an end to wasteful greed.

Tell your friends!

[Image via AP Images.]

Posted: January 20, 2010 at 10:00 am