The nation’s leading online retailer late Tuesday reported a 51% increase in sales and better-than-expected profits as liquidation of former rival Borders began.

Books-A-Million's efforts to secure the inventory, fixtures, equipment and leasehold interests for 30 Borders stores ended unsuccessfully because the company could not agree with Borders on terms and the going out of business sales at these locations commenced, the company announced Monday.

Books-A-Million announced the company has submitted a bid in the Borders Inc. bankruptcy proceedings to purchase, among other things, the inventory, fixtures, equipment, and leasehold interests for 30 Borders locations.

Borders Group inched closer to liquidation after a 5 p.m. Sunday deadline passed and no bidders emerged to keep the bankrupt chain in business.

Borders Group moved closer to liquidation after a judge on Thursday approved its motion to auction itself off with an offer from liquidators as its opening bid.

Borders Group hopes to name a bidder by July 1 and sell itself by the end of that month, according to bankruptcy court filings, the Associated Press reported.

Borders Group has reached agreements with its landlords to extend the leases on 11 stores it had previously asked a bankruptucy court to shutter, the Associated Press reported.

Borders Group said that it is faced with closing dozens of its best-performing stores due to a requirement of its bankruptcy financing if their landlords don't agree to extend a lease-negotiation period.

Private equity firm Gores Group is in talks to buy more than half of Borders Group's remaining stores, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

By now most consumers are at least somewhat familiar with the e-reader, namely Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook, but there's another e-reader on the market and Borders is banking on the device to help boost its business.

Borders is seeking at least $50 million in additional financing as sales trail expectations and publishers demand cash in advance, according to two people who have seen the chain’s plans to reorganize, Bloomberg reported.

Borders Group is expected to announce that another 75 stores will be closed.