Borders to Open its First Store in the Republic of Ireland October 27

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Borders will open its first book, music and movie superstore in the Republic of Ireland in the West Dublin suburb of Blanchardstown on Friday, Oct. 27.

The new store is located in the WestEnd Retail Park, which has a distinguished mix of well-known retail brands, and is only a brief commute from the centre of Dublin. The new 22,000-square-foot Blanchardstown store will feature more than 100,000 book, music, movie and periodical titles and will follow the family-friendly retail park format that has become so popular with customers in Great Britain. The spacious ground floor will display Borders' comprehensive range of books, CDs and DVDs, a Paperchase gifts and stationery shop, newspapers, and the widest selection of magazines in the marketplace.

Borders Group Chief Executive Officer George Jones said, "It is our company's mission to be the preferred place for knowledge and entertainment throughout the world. Our expansion into Ireland is part of achieving this mission and we thank the community for welcoming us with such enthusiasm. This new location will serve as a cultural center, meeting the needs of a community that is rich in literary history and as passionate as we are about books and the importance of literacy worldwide."

There will be a strong focus on books written by Irish authors -- including Irish Biography, History, Cooking and Sports, as well as Irish Fiction -- in addition to many English language titles from around the world. The Blanchardstown store will also carry a range of Irish language titles and will offer special order service. The children's section is expected to be particularly popular as the scene of many special children's events such as story time on the weekends. The mezzanine floor will feature a Starbucks coffee shop, and customers will be welcome to bring books and magazines to the Starbucks shop or to take their coffee downstairs to enjoy as they browse.

Like all Borders stores worldwide, the shopping environment at Borders Blanchardstown will be warm and inviting with plenty of comfortable chairs throughout, encouraging customers to relax and spend time exploring the store. It will also play host to regular free, in-store events including book signings, music performances, and children's activities.

Borders Ireland Ltd. was established in 2006. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Borders Group, Inc., a leading global retailer of books, music, movies and stationery with more than 1,300 stores worldwide and revenues of $4 billion. Borders UK was recently named "Retail Chain of the Year" for the second consecutive year at The Bookseller Retail Awards and won "Bookselling Company of the Year" at the British Book Trade Awards. More information on the company can be found at http://www.bordersgroupinc.com/ .

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