Borders, the bookstore which has been dealing with financial woes for quite some time, has cancelled its auction and will now be liquidating. This means that it will close its remaining 400 stores and 11,000 jobs will be lost.
Although I'm more about independent bookstores these days, this is still really sad news, especially for those who will be losing their jobs. The economy is still in bad shape, and with the whole
debt ceiling debate going on, it may get even worse.
Some blame the transition from print books to e-books for the demise of Borders, but who's to say? Barnes & Noble is still around, and although print books sales have gone down since the inception of e-readers like the
Kindle, they haven't gone down enough to make brick & mortar stores become obsolete.
As a print book lover, I do ask you all to support your local bookstores. If you've joined the e-side of the book world, there are plenty of indies that are partnered with Google Books that can provide you with more than enough books to fill however many gigabytes you have.
Let's not let what happened to Borders happen again, at least not for a long time.
Are you sad about Borders closing it's doors for good?[via
Reuters]
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Comments (71)
This news really depresses me...The Borders in the mall by my house closed and I was so upset! I love my Kindle, but there are still books I would buy from Borders because it was my favorite book store ever...
I think the blame on e-books is a possible cause. Barnes and Nobles has their own E-Book, which is probably why they're fine. You download those books FROM Barnes and Nobles so they still make money. Borders was selling Sony E-books and not really making any money off of them. I wish they got their own...I would have bought it in a heartbeat.
RIP: Borders.
Yes, this saddens me a lot. Borders lost their way trying to be Barnes and Nobles is the sad truth. Borders originally left merchandising of print and local cafe selections in the hands of their store staff. When they moved to the cookie cutter approach for their stores they lost a lot of their unique appeal. The thing that hurt them more than e-books though has been the movement from CD/DVD to digital formats for music and movies. They were far more invested in those aspects than most people realize. It was "Borders Books And Music" back in the day after all.
Our Borders closed too, but to be honest I think the bookstore more popular in my city is Barnes N Noble.
No. Change happens, and this is what people are indicating with their dollars that they want. That's how business and economy grows and develops. There will always be print books... look at vinyl records, they're still around. This doesn't mean the end of reading, just a change in how we do it, much like how we listen to music. Collectors and those who like things vintage will still keep books around (I'm one who will probably keep quite a few print books), but e-books offer a lot of advantages that are good for a lot of people. Go technology advances!
I'm sad because I hung out there a lot as a teen, but honestly, their stuff was WAY overpriced, their selection shit, etc.
So where's Borders' bailout? Oh, that's right, the government doesn't have its hands in Borders' pockets.
Wow. I actually can't believe it. I'm from Canada and we don't have Borders here but we have a chain similar of 3 bookstores (Indigo, Chapters and Coles) all owned by the same parent company and I still shop there quite often. Actually I just bought a book there on Sunday. I can't imagine those stores closing :o
@MoonFaeEyryan@xanga - I bought the Twilight books there for $8 each. Here in Canada they are in the price range of $25-30 each. Overpriced how?
No! I have a Borders card! I hate the Barnes and Noble near me (they never have anything in stock). I guess I'll be ordering all of my books from Amazon.
I don't like Barnes & Noble :( boo. Does this mean I can get cheap books for a bit at least?
@MeghanLarissa@xanga - Lucky you. Every Border's I've been too has all its merchandise AT LEAST $5 more expensive than elsewhere or online. And of course, more likely than not they probably had a discount on Twilight since it's a very popular paperback. Not to mention their DVD's were also insanely overpriced. And very often, the books were in shitty condition since everyone just read them and threw them to the floor and so on.
I am not surprised to see that Borders is closing. I am not much of a reader but I do read sometimes. Personally I like chick lit books, they are often found in the bargain section, hardcovers for mere dollars (sometimes less than the price of the paperback). I suppose I am not helping the situation. Businesses do need to change their business plans with the times to suit their clientele. My husband is an avid reader but even he has switched to the Kindle. It's really handy, keeps our clutter at bay and is often less expensive than buying the book. He's had it since it came out and read well over 200 books, he's definitely got his money's worth. He was even so excited that the Kindle charger doubles as a charger for his cell phone. Of course, he would still buy the book version if he wanted to read the book and it wasn't available in Kindle format. Also contributing to the demise of the Borders bookstores is Target and Walmart selling the popular titles at their stores, at a discount. They are usually 30% off the publisher's price. I love Amazon.com, they have everything you're looking for! Not always the best price but it's dependable.
@MeghanLarissa@xanga - The books didn't seem overpriced to me, although I cannot say the same about the music and movie selections. The CDs and DVDs are definitely a lot less expensive at other stores, such as Target and Walmart.
I'm only sad about it because that is the only bookstore that exists in the airport that my mom works at... So, when I travel and I find myself stranded, there, I can't peruse their collection... However, overall, I'm not sad. I didn't like Boarders. I mean, they were probably cheaper than B&N, but I like B&N waaaaaay better. Not to mention, I have a membership with B&N. lol
I usually only went to boarders for the cafe or their bathroom. I don't buy books I check them out from the local library.
I love Borders. :( I will bad extremely sad to see it go. Now all my crappy little town has is a cheap-o bookstore that doesn't stock new releases and a library, where new releases take forever to get ahold of. I'll now have to scan the shelves of Target and Walmart to get anything to add to my bookshelf. Very, very sad.
Thats terrible :( all those poor people out of jobs!
:( Borders is....was.....my favorite bookstore.
...i am so sad!
i love borders. it's so much better than barnes & nobles.
There's nothing like a good bookstore for book lovers... I've seen so many book stores close down. Very sad, but thank goodness Barnes and Noble is still around. Even our local libraries are 'remodeling' (getting rid of LOTs of books, I know so many people who aren't happy about it!). I don't know who they are trying to appeal to, but most book lovers like a big selection to choose from, whether in a store, library or from amazon.
I'm upset as hell about this. I love Borders, books, all that stuff. I know Barnes and Nobles will be around, but I like Borders better. In my area, it's cheaper and convenient. Printed books...I guess I'm just going to have to buy all the ones I can while Kindle hasn't taken over. It's just not the same.
Yeah. Sad! :(
Another one bites the dust.
@babybug329@xanga - I wouldn't know about the CD's I haven't bought a CD in years.
Figures. The mall near my house had a Border's in it. Perhaps I'll stop by and pick up some books on clearance, but it's sad that bookstores aren't that popular anymore.