The closing and liquidation of the Borders bookstore chain was supposed to help rival Barnes and Noble, but that's not the case, at least in the Indianapolis suburb of Avon.
Barnes and Noble suddenly closed the Avon store on December 31 with little advance warning. The closing hadn't been mentioned in local media, including the retail roundup column in the Indianapolis Business Journal on December 5, 2011 and the store is still listed as open on the BN.com website. There has been no press release or other notification of the store closing.
The closing comes as Sears Holdings begins the process of shuttering over 100 KMart stores including one in Indianapolis as well as a handful of Sears stores from coast to coast. Macy's also announced store closings in the last week though none affect the metro area.
At this point, it appears that the closing of the Avon Barnes and Noble is an isolated incident. Be that as it may, the company's methodology may serve to further unsettle an already jittery commercial real estate market in Indianapolis. It suggests that, in spite of ongoing media talk of economic recovery, it isn't just workers who are struggling to make ends meet as 2011 gives way to 2012.
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