Borders(R) to Open Store in Meriden, Conn.

Borders(R) to Open Store in Meriden, Conn.

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Borders will open a 20,346- square-foot store in Meriden, Conn. this October. The store will be in the Westfield Shoppingtown Meriden, located at 470 Lewis Ave., at the intersection of Interstates 91 and 691.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060208/BORDERSLOGO )

Walden Book Company, Inc., a subsidiary of global book, music and movie retailer Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE:BGP), will close the 3,300-square-foot Waldenbooks(R) store in the Westfield Shoppingtown Meriden on Saturday, Sept. 23, in anticipation of the opening of this new Borders store. This will be done to better meet the growing needs of the surrounding community.

Borders will work closely with those Waldenbooks employees who wish to remain with the company to find positions at the new store. Additionally, the opening of this larger store is expected to create more jobs in the local community. Anyone interested in employment opportunities at Borders in Meriden should visit http://www.bordersgroupinc.com/careers/borders.htm to apply for open positions.

Borders, who embraces its role as a vital, contributing member of the community and celebrates its customers' desire to explore and find personal enrichment and knowledge, offers the opportunity to enjoy local appearances by authors and performers as well as free activities for children. Community connections are important to Borders. The new store will serve as a community-gathering place for the residents of Meriden.

Committed to offering customers an engaged and rich shopping experience that meets their needs, the new store in Meriden will offer:

* A diverse and relevant assortment of up to 200,000 book, music and movie titles available in an inviting atmosphere with plenty of comfortable seating throughout the store.

* Borders Rewards(TM), a free loyalty program that allows customers to earn Holiday Savings Rewards(TM) every time they shop, enjoy exclusive savings every week, and earn Personal Shopping Days(TM) every month.

* A Seattle's Best Coffee(R) cafe that will serve its full line of premium coffee and non-coffee beverages, including lattes, mochas and blended beverages, and a fresh food menu, featuring pastries and sandwiches.

* A Paperchase shop with a wide selection of fashionable notebooks, journals, wrapping paper, greeting cards and other gifts and stationery items from U.K.-based Paperchase(R) Products Limited.

* Internet access. Through an alliance with T-Mobile(R), Borders stores are T-Mobile HotSpots(R), allowing customers using Wi-Fi enabled laptops or PDAs with a T-Mobile account the ability to comfortably surf the web, access email, connect to their corporate network, or download large files all while connected to the nation's largest, carrier-owned Wi-Fi network.

* "Borders Recommends" titles and reviews displayed throughout the store. In addition, knowledgeable booksellers are happy to suggest titles well suited to each customer.

* Multiple self-serve Borders Search stations, offering customers the opportunity to check the availability of a particular title and where it is located within the store. In addition, the stations in each store's music department will give customers the chance to listen to a CD before purchasing it.

* Borders Group Savings and Services Program, offering discounts, deferred billing, complimentary price quotes and specialized customer service to businesses, schools, libraries and non-profit groups. Membership to this program is free.

* "In-Store Express Pick Up." Through an alliance with Amazon.com, online shoppers at Borders.com and Amazon.com can use this service, which combines the ease of shopping online with the convenience of paying for and picking up an item at a Borders store the same day.

* The Borders Original Voices program, now in its 11th year, highlights the work of new and emerging authors and artists and helps Borders share its passion for books, music, and movies with customers, from one enthusiast to another. Over the course of a year, more than 200 new works are featured in Borders stores.

About Borders Group

Borders Group, Inc. is a Fortune 500 company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BGP. The company is a leading global retailer of books, music, movies, and gift and stationery items with 2005 revenues of $4 billion. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Borders Group, through its subsidiaries, employs more than 35,000 people worldwide and serves more than 30 million customers each year on a global basis. The company is organized into three business segments: Borders Domestic Superstores, International, and Waldenbooks Specialty Retail. Currently, there are more than 470 domestic Borders Superstores. In the International segment, there are 56 Borders superstores located mainly in the U.K. and Asia Pacific, as well as 31 Books etc. stores primarily throughout Great Britain. In addition, the International segment includes Paperchase Products Limited, a U.K.-based gifts and stationery retailer with approximately 90 locations. The Waldenbooks Specialty Retail segment includes over 675 Waldenbooks, Borders Express, Borders outlet and airport stores as well as the company's seasonal calendar business. More information on the company is available at http://www.bordersgroupinc.com/ .

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060208/BORDERSLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Borders

CONTACT: Holley Stein of Borders, +1-734-477-1224

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

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

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