Borders to close unionized store

This is from the Shelf Awareness newsletter. Note the highlighted bit (my emphasis).

Borders to Close Minneapolis Store

Borders is closing one of its oldest stores, in the Uptown section of
Minneapolis, Minn., by the beginning of June at the latest. The store is
in a mall that is being renovated, and the renovation will "not allow
for us to remain in the type of premium position we have now," Borders
spokesperson Anne Roman told Shelf Awareness. Borders has seven stores
in and around Minneapolis and St. Paul and is working with employees to
find places for them at those stores. Closing was, she said, "a
difficult choice because it was our first store in the area and
therefore is special to many customers and employees."

The Uptown store is unusual in several respects. Besides being Borders's
first store in the Twin Cities, it was once an Odegard's bookstore and
is one of only two Borders stores that is unionized. For years, it had a
vigorous reading program and was a star performer.

One former employee saw the closing as a major loss that stemmed from
corporate policy mistakes, but Roman said that while the store probably
had more events in its early days, that is "simply because there are
more stores now in the city--not only our stores, but other
competitors--and events are spread around in the marketplace." She noted
that the Uptown store hosted several major authors last year, and said
that the Minneapolis market is in the top 25 of the company's "national
events markets."

Like older Borders, the store for a long time had its own community
relations coordinator (CRC), a position that ended when the company
transferred the responsibility to district marketing managers and
regional marketing managers. "As we grew," Roman explained, "we would
often have several stores in one community or area. These stores, with a
CRC in each, would compete for events or duplicate efforts." The group
approach has helped Borders "attract better events and make sure that we
spread events around so all of our store communities receive events."