Borders Group Inc inched closer to liquidation on Sunday after a bidding deadline passed without offers, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Bids for the second-largest U.S. book store retailer Borders were due at 5 p.m. Eastern Time Sunday ahead of a bankruptcy court auction scheduled for Tuesday, the paper said.

Last week, a bankruptcy judge had approved a plan to liquidate Borders after a sale to private equity firm Najafi Cos fell apart.

Borders filed for bankruptcy in February after struggling for years to compete with larger rival Barnes & Noble Inc and Amazon.com Inc as more consumers bought books through the Web. Online sales account for a tiny fraction of Borders sales.

Borders declined to comment to Reuters on the WSJ report.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad; Editing by Anshuman Daga)