Destination: Cooking

Borders has taken Cooking, one of its most popular categories, and created a Destination where customers can indulge their passion for cooking and entertaining in a unique and memorable way. The Destination offers customers a large array of products including books, multimedia, and non-book items. While exploring the Destination, customers can enjoy instructive and entertaining video content shown via an LCD screen, and use the interactive digital kiosks for in-store and online exploration of the Destination's offerings, including garnering expert book recommendations. Customers can also enjoy a number of community-centered activities such as cooking demonstrations and engaging discussions led by local food artisans and organic growers.

Titles, Merchandise & In-Store Events

• The Cooking Destination has nearly 2,400 books ranging from famous chefs and restaurants to types of cuisine, cooking techniques and entertaining, and special diets.
  
  
• Besides offering a vast selection of books, the Cooking Destination also features cooking accessories such as recipe boxes and cookbook holders. Specialty products including tea towels, aprons, and practical and whimsical kitchen accessories are available from Paperchase, the retailer's fashion-forward gift and stationery shop.
  
  
• Throughout the year Borders will host a variety of cooking and entertaining-focused events that will feature local wine experts, artisanal food producers, local growers and chefs, food purveyors, and event planners.

Interactive Digital Kiosks

The Cooking Destination contains an interactive and multifunctional digital kiosk designed for cooking enthusiasts at every skill level. Features include:

• The "Borders Cookbook Recommender"—Customers can create and print a list of recommended titles based on personalized preferences they indicate in a short questionnaire. The "Borders Cookbook Recommender" is entirely unique to Borders in that cookbook titles are personally selected by the company's Cooking category buyer, allowing customers to tap directly into Borders' vast expertise and knowledge about cooking.
  
  
• The "Borders Recipe File"—Customers can access recipes through the "Borders Recipe File," an online catalog of popular recipes featured originally on Borders Media at www.bordersmedia.com. Customers can print the recipe right at the terminal, take it home to test it out, and if they like it, return to the store later to purchase the cookbook.
  
  
• "Borders Search"—Customers can use this terminal to conduct a comprehensive search of Borders' vast inventory of book, music, and movie titles. A search can be further refined by topic, price, and format. When the retailer's proprietary Web site, Borders.com, launches in the first fiscal quarter of 2008, customers will have the ability to order books, music, and movies right at the kiosk and have their order shipped directly to their house or to the store of their choice for pick up at a later time.
  
  
• "Borders Kitchen"—Both short clips and full episodes of "Borders Kitchen" are available for viewing on the kiosk.

Cooking & Entertaining Programming

• Borders engages customers with instructive and inspirational cooking and entertainment programming via a 32" LCD screen on the Destination's main feature wall.
  
  
• Content includes segments from "Borders Kitchen," Borders' original cooking program, which features exclusive interviews and demonstrations from culinary sensations such as Nigella Lawson and Lidia Bastianich. Customers can also watch popular programs from the Food Network including how-to demonstrations and practical tips for preparing seasonal recipes.
  
  
• Programming also includes segments from Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson's "Andrea's Complete Wine Course" DVD. This popular DVD features intimate and engaging discussions of wine basics such as storing, opening, and ordering in a restaurant and hosting a home wine tasting event. Popular wine varietals are also discussed.
  
  
• Additionally, customers will also be able to view:
  
  
  • How-to demonstration videos from FineCooking.com.
  • Interviews with Food Network personalities such as Bobby Flay, Robin Miller, and Ellie Krieger.
  • "Tips" videos from the creators of the bestselling "Joy of Cooking."