The site won’t go live until early next year, and marks Borders re-entry into the online retailing scene. Once upon a time, they managed their own website, but then sold it to Amazon in 2001.

According to some of the new features on the site include:

The Magic Shelf, essentially an area featuring books visitors can click on for more information. In an attempt to imitate the experience of walking into a Borders store, the site places the books on a realistic looking, three-dimensional shelf. Over time, as customers shop at the site, the Magic Shelf will become personalized based on past purchases. A related area, Picked for You, allows customers to list areas they are interested in and Borders will stock the area with appropriate titles.

Ummm . . . cool. I guess. Although it sounds a bit childish . . .

Sometimes it’s hard to figure Borders out. I love their stores and feel that historically, they’ve been more interested in backlist and literature than B&N, but something seems odd about this. After selling off the UK division, I wonder if reclaiming their website isn’t a way of adding value to the U.S. company for an impending sale . . . I have no evidence for this—it’s just pure speculation.