Ann Arbor, Mich. - Books and media retail store chain Borders Group (NYSE: BGP) plans to launch its own retail website next month -- and may offer MP3 downloads -- after taking back that responsibility from Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN), which has operated Borders.com since 1991. Borders is the nation's second-largest bookseller, behind Barnes & Noble, but for years has been sharing the profits from its online sales with rival Amazon.

The move to develop and launch its own website, which is currently in beta, is part of a larger restructuring plan that also saw the company close underperforming Waldenbooks retail stores.

The company is considering selling MP3s, and is also testing a custom CD creation service, Reuters reports.

"We know that the customer is downloading music," Rob Gruen, executive vice president of merchandising and marketing at Borders, told Reuters. "We're looking at how do we incorporate that into the whole process."

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