BORDERS CAN'T MAKE IT ACROSS THE BORDER
By Adnews Staff
An agency search for a new book chain in Canada appears to have been killed by government regulators. But it may be just on hold if the people trying to get the chain into operation can revive the enterprise. Industry Canada says book retailer Borders Inc. of Ann Arbor, Michigan can't operate here because the proposed operation doesn't meet Canadian ownership criteria. Ottawa requires that cultural industries such as publishing and bookselling be under Canadian control and Canadian majority ownership. Industry Canada will not reveal the reasoning behind its decision, released last week. It turned the proposal down even though Borders Canada does have three shareholders who together hold majority ownership: businesswoman Heather Reisman, Toronto book retailer Edward Borins and Second Cup CEO Michael Bregman. Borders Inc. would have a minority interest. Reisman is still looking for an alternative proposal and wants to have informal discussions with Borders executives and government officials. When the application was made last year, Borins told Adnews that the company wanted to hire a Canadian ad agency. Borders' first Canadian superstore was scheduled to open in Toronto this fall, and would have been 50,000 square feet in size. Ten per cent of that would have been dedicated to Canadian books.