Hudson Jumps on Borders's Airport Biz

By Judith Rosen - Publishers Weekly
Aug 19, 2011

It’s no secret that Hudson Group, the U.S. subsidiary of duty-free travel retailer Dufry AG, has been eager to expand its book sales by taking over Borders’s airport locations for the past two years. At one point, it was even rumored that Hudson tried to buy Borders’s airport business outright. Now, with the liquidation of Borders’s remaining 26 airport stores, Hudson has found its opportunity. Last month Hudson converted the Borders store in Las Vegas at McCarran International Airport. On Tuesday, it reopened in two former Borders locations at Baltimore-Washington International Airport just four days after the stores went dark.

“When the first round of closings occurred, the landlords were in denial about the whole thing. They loved the Borders brand name. In their mind, if Borders can’t make a go of it, no one can,” says Sara Hinckley, v-p, book purchasing and promotion. A year ago Hudson picked up three former Borders locations in Newark and one at Boston’s Logan Airport. “Those are not related to the bankruptcy, but they were definitely leases that slid during Borders’s recent challenges,” she says. As part of the takeovers, Hudson has also given priority to former staffers, and in Baltimore hired four former Borders employees.

But even with the new Hudson Booksellers spaces, it’s not always easy going in the age of e-books. “We have this prime demographic, 1.5 billion exposures a year,” says Hinckley. “It’s just finding a way to tap into that.” Like street bookstores Hudson has been forced to diversify its inventory. “You walk in, and it’s a bookstore,” she says. “You see a nice corner of toys and games, of cards—we have an exclusive to shop Papyrus in airports—and magazines.” And like independents Hudson is trying a lot of personal touches that can’t be replicated online, like signed shelf talkers. Recently Hudson launched a Hudson Booksellers Facebook page so frequent travelers can stay in touch.