• The Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, March 12, 2008 10:30 AM

Borders Group is sharply increasing the number of titles it displays on shelves with the covers face-out, a radical approach to boosting sales that will require a typical Borders superstore to shrink the number of titles it shows by 5% to 10%. Reducing inventory goes against the grain of booksellers' efforts over the past 25 years or so.

Borders has little choice but to experiment, with the book market facing unmitigated gloom. Competition from the Internet, videogames and other electronic devices has flattened growth in book sales. This year is expected to be particularly tough: There won't be a new Harry Potter title to lure people into stores.

The new display strategy is the brainchild of CEO George Jones, who says he learned when he was a buyer at Dillard's early in his career that dresses sell better when the entire garment is shown rather than hung sleeve-out. The approach is evident at some other retailers, as well. Wal-Mart, for instance, displays virtually all of its books face-out, a spokeswoman says.

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