Though Ann Arbor-based company Borders Group Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Feb. 16 of this year, small-scale independent bookstores in the area say they have seen little change in their sales.

As a result of the bankruptcy filing, Borders — which was founded in Ann Arbor in 1971 by two University students — closed 226 of their stores around the nation and moved from their headquarters located on South State Street. Despite the closures, the store located on East Liberty was left intact and because of this many local bookstores say the incident hasn’t affected their businesses much.

Mary Davis, a public relations manager for Borders, said she couldn’t divulge if the Borders store on East Liberty Street will at some point close. She added, however, that the downtown Ann Arbor store is “one of the better performing stores”, which was why it survived many of the closures that afflicted other locations, including the one on Washtenaw Avenue.

“It’s the first store in Ann Arbor,” Davis said. “It has a special meaning to the company.”

Despite the difficulties plaguing the company, Davis said she is optimistic that a change in merchandise will help the chain move forward after its financial difficulties.

Independent bookstore owners gave mixed responses about how their business would be affected if the East Liberty Street location closed and how the current bankruptcy of the chain influences their stores.

Corby Gillmore, manager of the Dawn Treader Book Shop, said he hasn’t seen a large difference in sales since Borders filed for bankruptcy, adding that it’s difficult to gauge how business will change for smaller bookstores until the store moves out of Ann Arbor completely.

Jamie Agnew, co-owner of Aunt Agatha’s Mystery Bookstore located on Fourth Avenue, said his business has been only marginally by the Borders bankruptcy because customers come to his store seeking products they can no longer find at Borders, due to a decrease in their merchandise.

He said the incident would only affect smaller bookstores if the company filed for total bankruptcy, and that even if the East Liberty were to close, it wouldn’t necessarily guarantee the disappearance of a chain bookstore in Ann Arbor since similar companies like Barnes and Noble could take its place.

Agnew added that despite having a chain bookstore present in Ann Arbor, he feels his main competition may actually come from technological advances that have led to the development of alternative ways to purchase and read books by ordering them online or using e-readers.

Ultimately, he said sales have improved lately but he doesn’t believe is attributed to the current situation with Borders. Instead he said sales have picked up because the city is slowly recovering economically and book sales as a whole tend to go up in the springtime.

Rachel Pastiva, manager at Crazy Wisdom Bookstore & Tea House on Main Street, echoed Agnew’s sentiment that an increase of sales can be most attributed to seasonal occurrences. She added that she doesn’t believe the Borders’ situation has affected her business laregely because she has different clientele.

“I guess it’s possible, but I think we have a very different customer base,” she said.

Pastiva said that regardless of the problems afflicting large chain bookstores, small independent bookstores will stay strong.

“What’s unique about independent bookstores is that we’re passionate about book selling,” she said.