Borders going out of business!

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 7:49pm

The 40-year old book company will be closing all of its remaing stores. The liquidation may begin as soon as Friday. All stores will be closed down by September 30. I am a little sad because I bought many of my mother's Christmas presents here including a DVD of the Albert Finney version of "Scrooge." It's sad that no one really cares about buying books in stores anymore. As a kid I loved sitting down and looking at many books and seeing which ones I wanted to buy. I also got all of my "Harry Potter" books there except for the last one, which I bought while I was on vacation in Europe.


Bookseller Borders to go out of business Updated On: 7/18/11 at 07:49 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 8:07pm

I blame the ipad.

[tommyboy]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 8:15pm

Daily newspapers are next.

Take heed:

Detroit News/Free Press
Chicago Tribune
Miami Herald
Toronto Star
Any city with a paper called the Picayune (sp?)

And finally, any other paper named the Post or the Times.

Are you listening Washington and New York????

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 8:18pm

Sad. There will always be bookshops though.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 8:47pm

NO! There is one just a block away from my house and they know me by name. I love that place.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 8:57pm

The Borders Express and the Borders here have been closed for at least a year. The only physical bookstores left in my area are the two Barnes and Nobles.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 9:01pm

Once all the book stores close, how are people expected to discover new authors and new books? Browsing is becoming a thing of the past.

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 9:09pm

"Once all the book stores close, how are people expected to discover new authors and new books? Browsing is becoming a thing of the past."

I wonder if books themselves won't become a thing of the past.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 9:12pm

The physical book, maybe. But they'll still exist in digital format and probably in larger numbers since it will be so cheap. But even then, how are people supposed to find them? Looking online at lists if titles is much different from looking at the spine or the cover of a book, being able to flip through it and decide if you want to read it.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 9:19pm

I really doubt that the physical book will become extinct. It may become a niche market at some stage way in the future but there will always be freaks like me who prefer the smell and feel of paper. It's not like DVDs, CDs, vinyl etc. where the technology renders them obsolete.

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 9:20pm

Very true, Jordan.

But I wonder, also, if books disappear, has anyone studied the long-term effects of prolonged reading on a screen? I know it certainly is harder on my eyes than reading a book.

It's all very depressing--- but that's progress (or what people call progress.)

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 9:20pm

I have the same problem with CDs and "record" stores. I used to love browsing through shelves spotting something as I walked around, and then buying it.

Browsing the "virtual shelves" of Amazon or iTunes is NOT the same thing, even remotely. As a result, I am buying far less than I used to. Mostly because I don't even know certain titles exist. It's a big difference.

As for Borders, they owe me money as a consigned author. I've filed a claim, and who knows if I will ever see my payments. They sold copies of my book (all the copies I gave them, actually), and they haven't paid me a dime.

It's hard for me, as a self-published author, to jump into these agreements with bookstores, when I don't even know if they'll be around six months or so from now to pay me my cut. I love supporting bookstores, though, and I try to work with them as much as possible. But it's so much easier for me just to sell online. No shipping, no invoicing. No waiting (forever) for payment.

The publishing industry is changing quicker than we think.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 9:26pm

Absolutely, and I don't buy nearly as much music as I did before for the same reason. I have no idea it exists.

And as for browsing on Netflix goes, I hate it. Love the service hate how everything is arranged. They should let you custom design your brewing settings. I want to see all of the new releases, dramas, comedy etc (cover art) in alphabetical order and not from what's rated highest down. I appreciate their suggestions but let me look for things in a way that I'm used to doing an LIKE doing.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 9:33pm

The problem with those online browsing things ("If you bought this, you might like this!") ...

They're showing me what they think I might like, based on my store-browsing history.

When I walk into a brick-and-mortar record store or bookstore, the biggest excitement is finding something I'm NOT looking for. Something I didn't even know exists, or something I haven't thought about in years.

Online "store browsers" show you the expected. I like the unexpected. That's what got me to buy.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 9:37pm

The things they show you are all things you know about anyways. The ONLY "online" service that introduces me to artists I've never heard of is Pandora, and I love it for that.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 9:39pm

Yeah - I discovered Blackmore's Night thanks to Pandora and now I have all their albums

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 9:47pm

I don't think I have honestly browsed a bookstore in years unless there was a specific topic I was looking for in non-fiction/gay and lesbian/travel/psychology sections. I was much more likely to go online and search for what I wanted and maybe then go to the bookstore to get it. I enjoyed browsing for magazines there, though. There were many magazines you would never find anywhere other than a big bookstore. Seriously, where will I buy Out and Curve now?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 10:07pm

Borders has steadily been declining. First the cafe had less of a variety and became smaller, then the CD selection dwindled to a "Top Ten" selection. Then the reading chairs disappeared and the clerks weren't familiar with the stock. Although I used to regularly patronize Borders, I stopped going there because it had become a shadow of its former self.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 10:12pm

Oh, it definitely didn't die overnight. It was a long, slow, painful death.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 10:21pm

Count me in as well in terms of buying less. Ironically the last time I purchased some CDs was when the Border's in DC went out of business last year. I was always big on buying cast recordings of shows (whether or not I saw the show), but now that CD stores have gone by the wayside, I tend not to buy any recordings whatsoever.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 7/18/11 at 10:24pm

"Borders has steadily been declining. First the cafe had less of a variety and became smaller, then the CD selection dwindled to a "Top Ten" selection. Then the reading chairs disappeared and the clerks weren't familiar with the stock. Although I used to regularly patronize Borders, I stopped going there because it had become a shadow of its former self."

Dolly-you hit the nail on the head. I remember when Borders stores were places you could spend hours discovering new music and authors and all the employees loved music and literature. I didn't mind paying list price for the quality of service and selection.

Now I never do to a Borders unless they emailed a 40% off coupon and even then they never stocked what I was looking for. Sad.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/19/11 at 12:03am

I remember when Borders stores were places you could spend hours discovering new music and authors and all the employees loved music and literature. I didn't mind paying list price for the quality of service and selection.

I worked at a Borders Express which was what they changed Waldenbooks into. And even back then there was a definite lack of knowledge. I had coworkers who never left the cashwrap for their entire shift. They'd just stand there and ring up sales. No customer service. I once witnessed one tell a customer we didn't have a book that I knew was on the shelf. She just didn't want to go get it.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/19/11 at 12:24am

Borders reaps what they sew. I hate to see any bookseller close but let's not forget the Barnes & Noble and Border's strategy of moving near independent booksellers to put them out of business, B&N would often shut down after closing all the indies in a town. This Borders deal has nothing to do with the iPad and everything to do with Amazon. And I would like to point out that here on BWW for years when people would announce dirt cheap cast recordings and theater books on Amazon I would always put in a plug for independent music shops and bookstores. How could they possibly expect to compete when Amazon often sold things for less than the indie stores paid for them?

So now browsing is limited to libraries and those who read book reviews. In fact, in order to find new things to read, you may have to, you know, read. Look for interviews with authors you love talking about authors they love. Thirty years ago I read every book Truman Capote recommended in the essay he wrote where he interviewed himself.

As for music, I read publications that have articles about new and notable and underground music I might like and 8 out of 10 times when I search the bands on YouTube, there's something for me to hear. Yes, it's an effort, but that's what it's come to.

Me, I've never once bought a book or CD from Amazon, I knew what it was doing to local economies from the get-go, The US only has itself to blame.

Updated On: 7/19/11 at 12:24 AM

[littlegreen2]

Posted: 7/19/11 at 2:32am

Where I live, Borders is really the only bookstore we have. I think there is a Barnes and Noble 45 minutes or so away from me, but that is such an inconvenient drive.

I'm very sad about Borders going out of business. There is one about ten minutes from me. I remember being 3 or 4 years old and spending hours in the children's section with my dad, looking through the shelves and picking out ones to read. I grew up there, really, and it was always rewarding when I felt that I had outgrown a certain section. I love to go there now and sit on the floor in the literature section, looking through plays and reading random sentences from books I had never heard of.

I guess this means that I have to do my book shopping on Amazon. I haven't been able to warm up to the kindle and hate reading things on a screen. Meh.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/19/11 at 6:42am

Another casualty of "progress"

It will really hurt when Strand goes.