As reported on ICv2, Borders monetary issues is causing troubles for publishers.  Borders was an early champion of Manga at one point accounting for 40% of it’s sales in the U.S.  While the percentage isn’t quite as high, it’s still a large chunk of Manga sales, and that’s why those publishers are hurting now that Borders stopped paying it’s bills.

Tokyopop’s CEO Stuary Levy commented to ICv2 about the situation:

The facts are simple. Borders—our biggest customer—went bankrupt, owed us a lot money, which they didn’t pay us, and as a result we are in a very challenging situation, and have had to react quickly to the situation. We did need to let a few people go—and it’s horrible for everyone involved to ever have to let people go. We will continue to do everything we can to evolve the manga business and we very much appreciate the support of our fans, our partners, our creators, and out retail customers.

Tokyopop has had some recent success, but that hasn’t prevented it from being hit.  If you don’t get paid, doesn’t matter how many books you sell.