Louis Borders is the founder of both Borders (in 1971) and Webvan (in 1996).[1][2]
Education
Borders studied mathematics at the University of Michigan during his undergraduate years and MIT for graduate work.
Career
Borders
The original Borders bookstore was located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where it was founded in 1971 by brothers Tom and Louis Borders during their undergraduate and graduate years at the University of Michigan.[3][4] The Borders brothers' inventory system tailored each store's offerings to its community. Kmart acquired the company for $125 million in 1991.[4][5][6] In 2011, the company went bankrupt and closed.[7]
Webvan
In 1996, he founded the online retailer and grocery company, Webvan.[1][2] Customers could order their groceries online and have them delivered to their door.[4] The company was valued at $8 billion in only three years, however, the company was defunct by 2001.[4][8] In 2020, Borders tried to start the company back up, with Webvan 2.0 and raised $30 million in funding.[4][9][8]
References
- Dan Fost. Louis Borders: Older and wiser Webvan founder eases back into the fray with Web content venture - SFGate Sfgate.com, July 30, 2003, retrieved January 10, 2016^
- Louis Borders Webvan Founder HDS - Business Insider Businessinsider.com, retrieved January 10, 2016^
- By the Book Northwestern.edu, retrieved 2010-01-11^
- Lauren Debter. Founder Of Borders Bookstores, Webvan Returns With Dreams Of Beating Amazon At Food Delivery Forbes, retrieved 2025-11-25^
- COMPANY NEWS; KMART TO PURCHASE BORDERS BOOKSTORES CHAIN (Published 1992) 1992-10-03, retrieved 2025-11-25^
- Peter Osnos. What Went Wrong at Borders The Atlantic, 2011-01-11, retrieved 2025-11-25^
- Yuki Noguchi. Why Borders Failed While Barnes & Noble Survived NPR, 2011-07-19, retrieved 2025-11-25^
- Ariana Bindman. The disastrous rise and fall of a $10 billion Bay Area unicorn SFGate, 15 October 2024^
- Webvan's founder is launching another online grocery business www.grocerydive.com, retrieved 2025-12-05^