Borders Launches State Street Audio

Borders has launched a proprietary line of unabridged audiobooks, State Street Audio, as a companion to its State Street Classics print line. The audiobook line is a partnership with Recorded Books, which supplied the recordings. The audiobooks were previously available from Recorded Books, but have never been available at retail before.

The first seven titles to hit Borders's shelves are Pride and Prejudice, A Tale of Two Cities, The Call of The Wild, Huckleberry Finn, The Scarlet Letter, Tom Sawyer and Great Expectations. These audiobooks are priced at $19.95, "which is an unheard-of price for these unabridged classics," said Clay Farr, audio buyer at Borders.

"These are terrific recordings of proven titles for us," Farr added. "I was looking for a way to put the Borders stamp on them [and] get them to the marketplace at an affordable price."

Asked if Borders would now be less likely to carry classic literature from other publishers, Farr acknowledged, "There certainly is a great deal of redundancy in the audio backlist. But if there's a compelling reason, like a great narrator, a live recording, something that really sets a recording apart, I would have no problem carrying it; it's a different product. Also, some people prefer abridged—although at these prices, I doubt that very many people would prefer to spend more for less."

Brian Downing, v-p and editor-in-chief of Recorded Books, said the deal is a win-win situation. "Our name is displayed prominently on the product and is read on the tape, so it is a furthering of our brand. Mainly we saw it as a vehicle to widen the audience of audiobooks, which helps the industry. And we get some money out of it, hopefully."

He acknowledged that the State Street line may compete with Recorded Books' own retail product, but said, "Once in awhile you take a chance."

State Street Audio is not the first proprietary audio line of a retail chain. Back in the 1980s, Waldenbooks tried a line of business, seminar and nonfiction tapes called Walden Tapes, which was not successful. But as Farr points out, at that time audiobooks were just starting to appear in bookstores, and many consumers were not familiar with the product. Today audiobooks are a thriving category. He also noted that business tapes generally do not have the timeless shelf-life and mainstream appeal of classic literature.