sentences:  At the time of the transition the chain had 17 locations.Increased competition from Crown, Borders, Barnes & Noble, and other discount bookstores forced the company to close all 10 of its suburban mall locations and leaving the remaining 7 Chicago locations open in 1993.A few months later when the company was on verge of bankruptcy, Kroch bought back the company and then turned around and resold the company to Businesship International.