Being Innovative in Business…

The Borders chain recently went out of business and filed for bankruptcy. For those of us that still love reading an actual paper book this was a sad turn of events…with Borders closed that leaves Barnes and Noble as the main store front for book lovers like myself. I LOVE Barnes and Noble and I am there buying books at least 2-3 times a month…Amazon is also a favorite and I have books sent to my office from there at least once every 6 weeks or so.

In today’s Wall Street Journal I saw a story that made me proud of Barnes and Noble’s innovative marketing approach…Barnes and Noble acquired the Borders customer list in a deal approved by the Federal Bankruptcy court and the CEO has preceded to send a letter to every Borders customer that expresses his sadness for the loss of Borders and then goes on to invite the customer to now come to Barnes and Noble and make that their bookstore of choice. CEO, William Lynch goes on to ask people if Barnes and Noble can retain their Borders customer data and people are given a chance to opt out of that choice if they wish.

The foresight to purchase this list and communicate with these customers shows how innovation can help businesses to win in any economic climate…Kudos to Barnes and Noble…