PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Borders Group Inc. wants its stores to be a place where downloading e-books and burning CDs go hand in hand with browsing the shelves and paging through a best-seller in a comfy chair.

The nation's second-largest bookseller on Wednesday unveiled its first concept store near its Ann Arbor headquarters. Eighteen months in the making, the new look for its U.S. superstores is a key element of a restructuring announced last year that includes Borders' return to online bookselling.

"The opportunity that I saw ... was to really become and to position ourselves as a headquarters for knowledge and entertainment," Chief Executive George Jones, who started the concept store project shortly after he joined Borders in July 2006, told reporters during a preview tour.

The 28,900-square-foot store, which opens Thursday, is one of 14 planned nationwide this year. Slightly bigger than the average Borders location, the company says its stores still will have a deep selection, knowledgeable staff and a comfortable atmosphere, but they'll also give popular categories, such as travel, cooking, wellness and children's books a more physical presence.

After seeing what works with its concept stores, Borders plans to put some of the features into its existing U.S. stores. That effort will be a crucial test for the company in the face of cut-price online retailers as well as tough competition from Barnes & Noble Inc., the nation's largest bookseller.

"The real challenge for any high volume bricks and mortar retailer of any kind is the speed and extent to which they can implement this, and the extent to which they can tailor them to local markets," said Mike Moriarty, partner and retail leader at consulting firm A.T. Kearney Inc.

One of the most noticeable additions is the "Digital Center," located around a 15-foot illuminated sign. Some of the store space that previously would have been used for CD sales now features a series of computer stations. From there, shoppers can download books or music, print photos and create CDs.

Technology also is spread throughout the store. In the travel section, an interactive kiosk allows shoppers to research, plan and even book a trip, while the cooking section has a kiosk to print recipes from cookbooks. But Borders' says its bookstore roots remain amid the digital and interactive additions.

"What we really wanted to provide was a wonderful bookstore," said Jill Lyon, vice president of store planning and construction. "There are parts of the store that are really the traditional, comfortable areas for folks to get their books and sit and read."

Fred Crawford, managing director at turnaround consultant AlixPartners who has studied consumer attitudes toward major booksellers, said it's unclear whether the tech aspects will appeal to shoppers. But he said the overall bookstore experience is what leads them to shop at a store rather than just buy online.

"I think this is an ambitious approach, an ambitious test of the blending of off-line and online," Crawford said.

In addition to a new facade with large windows and skylights that bring sunlight into the center of the store, the cafe at the concept store features an adjoining outdoor seating area for warm weather. Curved tables highlight the latest titles, and more books are displayed with their front covers facing out.

A large mural above the children's section features images of castles and flying books.

For its "Digital Center," Borders partnered with online photo service Shutterfly Inc., family history Web site Ancestry.com and on-demand publisher Lulu.com to showcase how customers can make photo, genealogy and self-published books. Shoppers will be able to buy software to produce such books, and the bookseller says some customer-written books may eventually be sold in Borders stores.

In addition to in-store CDs, shoppers will be able to burn full CDs - and cover art - from a catalog of about 2.4 million songs. And when the new Borders.com starts taking orders this quarter, store customers will be able to place orders for items that aren't in stock, and have them delivered to their home in two days.

During Wednesday's preview, Margaret Atwood appeared via videoconference to show off her LongPen invention: a remote-controlled pen that allows writers to sign books for fans from thousands of miles away. It will be used by Borders under a pilot project, and is yet another tech feature of the concept store.

"The digital and the Internet parts of this will continue to evolve all the time," Jones said.