Borders closing its doors

[jmattbassplaya]

I went in there a couple times and wondered the same thing. What's the point of buying the book when you have that environment to read in?

-Mike

You'll spend more money on coffee, pastries, etc... than you would on most books if you sit there for a few hours.

 

[Phalex]

Crazy! They're based out of Ann Arbor MI. I saw a Borders a few weeks ago that ws having a clearance sale, but I didn't know it was this bad! I gotta go buy the series Pacman suggested at half off!

 

[notverygood]

Ummm... Borders WAS a "big box store" that did the "put independents out of business" for years.

It's sort of like complaining that Amazon is putting Walmart out of business.

That being said - it's a huge number of lost jobs in this area (they're headquartered here), and this area really can't afford to lose a lot of jobs.

+1 I find it poetic that Amazon is giving Walmart and etc fits.

 

[sandmangeck]

Half Price Books FTW!!!!!

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

I used to shop a lot at Borders but I wondered about their business model. They kept e-mailing me coupons for 30 or 40% off. Great, but they forgot also need to get customers into the store without big coupons. Instead they trained their customers to wait for them. Many times I wanted to go shopping but held off, thinking maybe they'll send me a coupon in the next couple days. If they did, maybe I would find time to go, but if they didn't maybe I wouldn't.

In their heyday they sold a lot. But even with high volume you have to make margins. They started squeezing demand toward minimal margins. Oops. It became a leaning-out-the-window contest.

 

[fhm555]

...but the all the great indie music stores are long dead and gone. Even the corporate ones are gone...

As Blackwood said to Holmes "You must widen your gaze."

Invalid Link Removed

 

[Handyman]

I'm ruling Borders' death a suicide. They were extremely late with an online presence, and their prices for CDs and DVDs were just absurd, often twice the price of other big box stores. But the did have a good selection of book.

Then, several years ago, many Borders stores remolded, shrank their book selection, and grew the size of their laughably expensive CD and DVD offerings. Foot, meet gun.

Barnes and Noble seems to have figured out how to stay afloat in the retail book business. I always liked their stores better, anyway.

 

[Jhengsman]

Fifty years from now you'll buy just about everything on the Internet. All that will be left will be Walmart, maybe Target, upscale stores like Kohl's, a couple of specialty stores like Best Buy and Home Depot, and grocery stores. That's it. Mom-and-Pops will be just a fading memory. Sad, but that's the way it's going to be.

Kohl's is upscale? More like another specialty (clothes) discounter.

 

[Tupac]

i don't know about where you at but indie music and book stores are doing pretty well in downtown Richmond, VA, especially with VCU art/hipster kids. I don't mind the hipsters as long as i can still browse vinyls and books.

Holy crap, I live an hour away from Richmond! Newport News is where it's at maaan

And I know exactly what you're talking about with the hipsters. Don't forgot the Edge kids and their obscure "hardcore" music.

 

[GregC]

I never did understand the concept of giving people coffee, couches, and the freedom to stay there all day reading books.

They generally sell the coffee. That's where the real margins are.

 

[fdeck]

Fifty years from now you'll buy just about everything on the Internet. All that will be left will be Walmart, maybe Target, upscale stores like Kohl's, a couple of specialty stores like Best Buy and Home Depot, and grocery stores. That's it. Mom-and-Pops will be just a fading memory. Sad, but that's the way it's going to be.

Mom-and-pops are already gone. All of the indie music stores in my locale have either closed or scaled way back. Malls will not rent to stores that are not chains.

For me, it's not necessarily a matter of price & selection, but time and effort. To shop at a store, I have to go there, when they are open. If they don't have what I want, then I have to go somewhere else. I don't have the time, and gas keeps getting more expensive.

 

[fourstringdrums]

Swarm! Swarm!

Your post has been flagged. It's been in the bathroom.

 

[GregC]

I'm lucky, we still have indie music and book stores in the city. I have a couple of each within half a mile from my place, and they're generally good to excellent. We have an anti-chain mentality here that has helped preserve a lot (not all) of the mom-and-pop stores. To be clear, the good ones get support. Some are just bad and deservedly disappear.

 

[seanm]

We have a great indie bookstore near by (Collected Works for those near Ottawa). But I have been noticing it is looking more run down and really needs a paint job. I hope they can stay alive.

 

[NateS]

Mom-and-pops are already gone. All of the indie music stores in my locale have either closed or scaled way back. Malls will not rent to stores that are not chains.

For me, it's not necessarily a matter of price & selection, but time and effort. To shop at a store, I have to go there, when they are open. If they don't have what I want, then I have to go somewhere else. I don't have the time, and gas keeps getting more expensive.

well....there's your problem. you're looking in the malls. where else do you expect to find modern, chain, commercialized, watered down, crappy stores specifically to satisfy everybody just enough to make them feel they need to come back? Look for stores, don't expect everything to be presented to you in a mall. that's like looking for quality music on the radio.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

well....there's your problem. you're looking in the malls. where else do you expect to find modern, chain, commercialized, watered down, crappy stores specifically to satisfy everybody just enough to make them feel they need to come back? Look for stores, don't expect everything to be presented to you in a mall. that's like looking for quality music on the radio.

Speak for yourself. Ke$ha and Katy Perry is some quality ****!

 

[anonymous122511]

well....there's your problem. you're looking in the malls. where else do you expect to find modern, chain, commercialized, watered down, crappy stores specifically to satisfy everybody just enough to make them feel they need to come back? Look for stores, don't expect everything to be presented to you in a mall. that's like looking for quality music on the radio.

Depends on where you are. In these parts most of the the indie book stores left are in the city relatively close to the university. Out in the wastelands of the burbs small book stores as a rule just don't exist anymore. Small towns seem to be the where indie book stores continue to consistently stay above water.

And from the little interaction I've had with fdeck I'm having a hard time picturing him relying on the mall for everything.

 

[Sketchy]

This is the most life I've seen under the word "borders" for quite a while.

I should get back into reading at some point. I used to read a lot.

 

[Longhair]

They generally sell the coffee. That's where the real margins are.

How come Starbucks doesn't have isles and isles of books then?

 

[Absentia]

Barnes and noble's is okay right... good.
I haven't been to a borders in ages.

+1 when I can get the same book off amazon, in better condition, and almost always 60% of the store price, your business model needs updating.



People don't read anymore anyhow.