Although he was head of Borders Group's international stores for seven years, Vincent Altruda had always been based at Borders headquarters in Ann Arbor, Mich., and before his international posting, he worked for five years in Borders's U.S. stores. As a result, there was no abrupt transition in March when he was named president, Borders stores worldwide. As he put it during an interview at BookExpo America, "I'm doing a lot of reconnecting with folks I worked with a lot already."
Altruda has moved quickly to change and improve Borders stores, which by comp-store measures (sales at stores open at least a year) performed poorly compared to the competition last year. He said he is "reevaluating everything we do" to find areas that need improvement. "Sometimes something we did or decided in the past made sense but maybe not now," Altruda said. The company also aims to reward staff and make Borders stores "the preferred place," not only to shop but to work. "We're about more than getting results," he said. "We want to get them right away."
One merchandising element that has already been changed is reinforcing Borders's focus on books, particularly in the front of its stores. "Whatever is up front sells best. Books are the hallmark of what we do," Altruda said. "They're our core category. The better we sell books, the better we sell everything. If we accept we will do better with books, then we'll get more traffic and we'll sell more gifts and stationery, DVDs and CDs."
The most tangible result of this strategy is evident in the front of most Borders stores. Most nonbook products have been moved. Gifts and stationery, for example, still have high visibility but are no longer in the very front. "The first impression" in a store is now "overwhelmingly books," Altruda said. "It's a dramatic change without needing a tremendous amount of work."
In addition, the company has freed up more space in the front of stores by moving the main information desks in some 120 outlets to the side or back. With the newfound space, the stores have added tables of quality paperbacks, particularly new releases and midlist, and will give trade paperbacks more time up front. If the books are moved to the back after being displayed up front for a month, but then get major reviews or otherwise take off, "they can get lost," Altruda said.
In a related move, in the book areas away from the front, Borders stores are adding section tables, which had been cut back in part because of the growth of non-book products. "Section tables can be great things," Altruda commented. "They're another place for books to be featured." Altruda emphasized that the company remains "passionate" about selling music CDs and DVDs.
Altruda will use category management "as a tactic for continuous improvement," asking, "What better way to do so than by working with vendors to find out what customers want? The goal is to create a better environment for customers." He noted that the company continues to add category management to sections and that reviews comparing Borders sales to industry sales in the first categories that have gone through the process show that Borders's sales have grown. "So far, it's been successful," Altruda stated.
