Dedham Borders to Close, Town Cites Change in Industry, Not Location

at Legacy Place will begin liquidation and eventually close its doors, Borders Group announced Monday in a statement.

Open for almost 13 months, the 25,000 square-foot store survived the  in February when Borders announced the closing of six Massachusetts stores.

"It's too bad. You hate to see the whole industry change like that," said Karen O'Connell, Dedham's economic development director. "It has nothing to do with the Dedham location."

When Borders first opened, employees at the in Dedham Square were worried, manager Janet Reynolds said Tuesday.

"It may help us," Reynolds said. "It might effect us during the liquidation process though."

The store will undergo liquidation, a process that could take up to a couple months.

Although obvious competitors, Reynolds said she doesn't want to see a brick-and-mortar store go out of business, no matter how big.

"We don't like to see any bookstore close," she said. "On a town citizen-level, it's not a good thing."

As a high-visibility anchor on the $200 million development, O'Connell said the space, owned by WS Development, shouldn't be vacant for long.

"[WS Development's] strength is finding the right mix of tenant for their development," O'Connell said Tuesday. "I would speculate that won't be an empty store for very long."

Several residents said they felt bad for employees who will be out of a job soon.

"This is not the economy to be adding people to the unemployment list," said Leanne Jasset, of Dedham. "That's what hit me first."

Jasset said it adds to the mixed messages being sent about employment numbers nationwide.

"You hear the numbers that unemployment is getting better, then you hear something like this," she said.

At the , librarians said they were shocked by the news that Dedham will lose the conveinence of having a bookstore with a vast selection.

"Now I have to go out of town," said Amber Socci, a circulation supervisor at the main branch. "And people who work there no longer have a job."

O'Connell said she will work with the state's Department of Labor and Workforce Department to help the soon-to-be out-of-work employees with finding either another retail job, or help switch career tracks.

"We'll see what [the state is] thinking about and planning," O'Connell said.