Borders® Participates in Google's Local Availability Feature

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Borders® today announced its participation in Google's Local Availability feature, a national service that provides customers with a fast, easy and convenient way to search for books and other products at participating retailers. The company also announced today it's teamed with Meetup to enable consumers to discover enriching family-friendly events in their communities. In the coming weeks, Borders will have a dedicated page on Meetup Everywhere accessible via Borders.com, enabling customers to find Borders' kids parties, storytime events, musical performances, national author readings and book signings as well as other activities happening in their communities. Customers will also be able to use Meetup to organize book clubs and other meetings at Borders locations during regular store hours at no charge.

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"Borders has recently introduced a number of customer-focused programs designed to create an exceptional shopping experience both in-store and online," said Mike Edwards, CEO of Borders, Inc. "Google's Local Availability feature is yet another great service we're offering that enables our customers to quickly search for a book at their local Borders store. We're making it easier than ever for customers to find the perfect gift when they are on the go this holiday season.

"We're also excited to team with Meetup to provide our customers with the ability to find our enriching in-store events and organize their own activities at Borders," continued Edwards. "Our stores are natural community hubs, where our customers gather together to celebrate books — our participation in Meetup will be a great avenue for fostering an even stronger sense of community around the joy of reading."

Customers can access Local Availability information through Google on their desktop or mobile phone to search for their next great read by visiting Google.com and clicking on the "Shopping" tab. They can then access a list of Borders stores in their area that carry the book, see the price and find out if the title is in stock. Customers may also be able to read reviews by other book lovers as well view a list of suggested related books.

In Borders' commitment to offer a superior customer shopping experience, the company recently announced it is extending its 30-day returns policy for the holiday season. Gift buyers and recipients now have at least until Jan. 31 to return books, music, movies, e-readers -- any Borders product -- purchased now through Dec. 24. Borders is also partnering with ShopRunner(SM), an online shopping program that offers customers unlimited free two-day shipping with no minimum order size, and free shipping on returns, across a wide variety of today's most popular retailers for $79 annually. The company also recently launched the "Borders Customer Commitment" -- a new customer satisfaction initiative and the first of its kind in the bookselling industry. The program includes the popular "In-Stock Promise," which assures consumers that if they don't find an item in stock in a Borders store, and it's among the more than one million titles available on Borders.com, Borders will find it and pay the shipping costs to the customer's home. The Customer Commitment also includes a separate in-store program -- the "Low Price Promise" -- promising that the company will match a local competitor's advertised, in-store price on items that Borders has in-stock in-store.

About Meetup

Meetup is the world's largest network of local groups. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face. Between 6,000 to 8,000 groups get together in local communities each day, each one with the goal of improving themselves or their communities. Meetup's mission is to revitalize local communities and help people around the world self-organize. Meetup believes that people can change their personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful enough to make a difference.

About Borders Group, Inc.

Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., through its subsidiaries Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP) is a leading specialty retailer of books as well as other educational and entertainment items. The company employs approximately 19,500 throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders® and Waldenbooks® stores. Online shopping is offered through borders.com. Find author interviews and vibrant discussions of the products we and our customers are passionate about online at facebook.com/borders, twitter.com/borders and youtube.com/bordersmedia. For more information about the company, visit borders.com/media.

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 "expected," "planning," "possibility," "opportunity," "goal," "will," "may," "intend," "anticipates," "working toward" 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 condition and performance (including earnings per share, profitability, liquidity, cash flows, debt levels, market share growth and other sales information, inventory levels and capital expenditures), its cost reduction initiatives and plans for store closings, and the expansion of product categories, including eBook content and eReaders. 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--including vendor credit--to fund the company's operations and to carry out its strategic plans; adverse litigation results or other claims, the performance of the company's information technology systems, the anticipated impact of our Borders Rewards and Borders Rewards Plus programs; and, with respect to eBook content and eReaders, the availability to the company of anticipated content levels and a variety of competitive devices.

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.

SOURCE Borders, Inc.