Borders Books & Music, like many other retailers, has been tip-toeing into multicultural marketing. But a new store planned in Pico Rivera, Calif. will take the company a step further. The new 18,000-square-foot store, set to open in June, will test broader assortments of Spanish products, including more CDs, and deeper selections of books, especially for children.
Other bilingual Borders stores have been established in Kendall, Fla., and Puerto Rico, but the new Pico Rivera store will be the first to feature signs in Spanish. Expansion plans beyond Pico Rivera haven't been determined.
There is no limit to the possibilities in the United States, where the Hispanic population has an estimated buying power of $580 billion and numbers 36.9 million, or 13 percent of the total population, according to a recent study by research firm Arbitron. Borders' rival Barnes & Noble won't say if it's considering following Borders across the language divide.