Border's Books and Music

Dolly, Im with you. I DREAD Borders. They stock absolutely nothing unless you want bargain books, yoga mats, odd stationary and desk wares, picture frames. It is the oddest assortment of merchandise. I think the stores will be absorbed by amazon and will start folding one by one. There DVD and music selections are laughable.

There was a time Borders was a destination for me to spend hours and discover new music and writers. Long gone are those days. Their prices are all list price unless you have one of their damn email coupons. I hate Borders with every fiber of me being.

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The chain has been making some very smart business decisions recently regarding customer service policies. They will, for example, order any book, dvd, or cd from the website to the store without shipping fees if it isn't on the shelf. There upgraded rewards card ($20 a year) has tons of perks to it that I take advantage of all the time.

I do know from experience, however, I am very fortunate to have such a good Borders in my area. While the CD section has shrunk down (I think I was the only person routinely purchasing cast albums for a long time as the stock only seemed to change when I bought something), they have expanded the foot-space for independent publishers. I love that I can stop by and pick up a new horror anthology from a company that still can't get into Barnes and Noble or a big fantasy novel I couldn't find anywhere else. Mine also expanded its scripts and sheet music sections, though that meant cutting back on poetry.

The company just needs to tighten its reign over the stores. Michaels, for example, has a ridiculous amount of inspections and punishments for stores that violate even the smallest policies (like someone working in the framing section without white gloves on, even if they're only stocking shelves). Borders can set all the new policies it wants; if they aren't consistently upheld in all the stores, the chain's going to collapse.

Border's stores just never had the charm and hominess that the Barnes & Noble's has.

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I have to agree with the comment about small bookstores. Miss 'em!

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One of the larger Border stores in DC closed over the summer. I prefer Barnes & Noble anyway and got some great deals on new books after Christmas there (and I'm not even a member).

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I was excited because Border's had been planning to open a new store in my neighborhood, but alas, it's not happening. It would have been nice to have any bookstore a block away.

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I don't think a lot of people buy actual CD's anymore.

That is happening to books at an astonishing rate. Everyone says "Oh, ebooks will never replace the feeling of holding a book," but the numbers of people owning ebook devices and buying books that way grew at exponential rates over 2010 and the holiday season.

How long till someone here posts "I don't think a lot of people buy actual BOOKS anymore"? 20 years? 10 years? 5 years? 2 years?

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I prefer Barnes and Noble as I feel they never shifted their focus from books and music the way Borders did. Borders alienated their customer. Barnes and Noble is still filled with employees who love books and music and as a member I get tons of deals and free express shipping online.

I still buy actual CDs. I hate "virtual" music. It just goes against my grain. When they stop making CDs I will be very sad.

I still dont own an e-reader and I won't until they stop publishing the books I want.

I know this year was huge for e-readers as the BN site kept crashing due to volume.

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I worked for Borders briefly. I could never ever find anyone within the company who could explain to me how they thought the company would ever be profitable. The average Borders Customer sits around reading books and magazines for free while drinking a $2 cup of coffee-- unless they brought their own cup and filled it from the "Tasting Pot."

And the occasional item they DO sell- is almost certainly sold at or near cost. When I worked there, they did frequent coupons for %20 off- now, those coupons are 30, 40, even 50 percent off. You can not survive when you are selling the bulk of your merchandise at cost-- especially not when you are in a labor- intensive business like book selling.
The question is when not if

The Borders Express (formerly Waldenbooks) I used to work at closed not overly long after I left and now the Borders only a few miles away is in the process of closing. The B. Daulton that was in the same mall as Borders Express closed not long ago and now there is not a single bookstore within that mall. And that breaks my heart a bit.

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Dollypop, I think I know which store you're talking about as we used to live in relatively the same area. I actually worked in that store from 2005-7 (and one further out east for two years prior) and it really never was the same after the wall between the music department and the rest of the store came down.

Greg is still there actual. I was out visiting about three weeks and spoke to him briefly.