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Newsstand sales of magazines plummeted in the second half of 2011, corresponding with the liquidation of Ann Arbor-based Borders Group Inc., formerly the second largest bookstore chain in the U.S.

Single-copy sales of consumer magazines fell 9.96 percent in the last six months of 2011, compared with the same period in 2010, according to Audit Bureau of Circulations figures released Tuesday.

The report marks the first period in which most Borders stores were closed. The retailer, known for carrying a wide selection of magazines, announced its liquidation on July 18 and stopped carrying new magazines at the same time.

Inc_Magazine_November_cover.jpg

Individual copies of magazines like Inc. Magazine are harder to find after Borders liquidated. This copy featured Ann Arbor entrepreneur Ann Marie Sastry.

Photo courtesy of Inc. magazine

But the impact of Borders' demise on the sale of magazines was barely mentioned in national media reports.

Among the other culprits are digital magazine subscriptions through devices like Apple's iPad, for example.

“It’s not just technology. It’s the proliferation of media,” Steven Cohn, editor of the Media Industry Newsletter, told the New York Times.

Readers are flocking to "many online portals and social media services like Twitter and Facebook" to get news they used to get from magazines, the Times reported.

Here's a link to the ABC figures.

Read the full New York Times story here.

Read a story by Forbes here.

Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.

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