Job well done: MESH, a local advertising and marketing firm, and the Baton Rouge chapter of the American Advertising Federation received honors at the American Advertising Federation National Conference. MESH was honored for a poster it produced for Fleurish Productions, headed by Baton Rouge native and journalist-turned-filmmaker Ben Lemoine. The Baton Rouge ad federation was recognized as “a chapter of the year.”
Lease extensions at issue: Borders Group says it may have to close dozens of its best-performing stores, in accordance with a requirement of its bankruptcy financing, if its landlords don’t agree to lease extensions. Borders, which filed for bankruptcy court protection in February, has new lease agreements for 365 stores. But it said in a court filing today that it is still negotiating lease extensions for 51, many of which are among its top-selling stores. The chain shut down nearly 200 stores after it filed for bankruptcy, including its locations in New Orleans and Metairie. The only remaining Borders in the state is at the Mall of Louisiana. A Borders spokeswoman says the company, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., wants to keep most of its remaining stores open and is working with its lenders to waive the store-closing requirement and with some of its landlords to get extensions. The company says it is in talks with several potential buyers for its stores or its business as a whole.
