So long Borders Books

[sixty2strat]

Went there yesterday for their closing sale. Got ZZtop Fandango for 6.64 and a Book on the Waffen SS for 7.99 and 2 guitar exercise books for 20.% off. really sad to see them go size there were always full of great books from the classics to the salacious or a copy of Mojo. Guess you could see it comming their good CD selection( diverse for a chain ) became as good as targets. Sad they even had the AC cut back. 3 shrews in line were bitching that some employee was rude to them, cause now they can get away with it.. guess a person who just got a pick slip might not be full of joy ...didn't cross their mind. Still sad to see. Thought they were only closing some stores, guess it all. Sad to see a useful store gone.

[ACfixer]

Sad to see a useful store gone.

No offense, but I think Border's usefulness was all but gone by about 2005. Back in the 90's it was a great place to meet dates, or just kick back and have some coffee and read a magazine.

I wonder how Barnes & Noble is doing?

[Rich M]

Way overpriced, IMHO, until, of course, they went out of business.

[BFC]

I stopped in today. The 'every thing must go' prices are closer to where they should have been all along.

[Jiffy_Jeff]

Never stepped foot in one....

[smokey]

I feel bad for people losing their jobs at Borders. But I felt that way for the record store and Blockbuster employees too. But it doesnt change the fact that they are no longer viable in todays market.

It's the savage beauty of free enterprise. Keep up or go the way of the horseless carriage builders. There are folks on another thread here saying that itunes and amazon will be history before long because you can just subscribe to the stuff on the cloud based sites these days and no one will actually buy the stuff in the future.

Sounds farfetched today, but what if that is true?

[JamesT]

Went there yesterday in northern Virginny- 20% off CD was still like $15.00 way over priced on everything.

[TNJ]

Barnes&Noble is a prime breakfast hangout for me year round.
Borders was right down the street too, but never had the right feel. Plus no Starbucks.
Our local B&N is new and always seems busy.

Hope it stays that way.

S.
j

[JamesT]

That is same here, but I don't eat breakfast at B/N. It is huge store and def. has different vibe.

[schmidlin]

Borders got greedy. Back when I traveled a lot, I would flock to a Borders, as they had free wi-fi: great, get some business done! Buy a Macachino or what-not, shop, etc. Then they they started charging for wi-fi. Stupid. Foot traffic is ALWAYS a plus, and free wi-fi costs very little. Never went back. Marketing idiots.

[projam619]

Borders non-fiction selection was the absolute best one can expect from a bookstore. B and N is decent, but definitely more commercial in this regard. I always gauge a store by how well their philosophy section is: is there New Age bs, or is there genuine scholarship and cutting edge works on Nietzsche, Foucault, etc? PLus their music section was always very good. Music, coffee, books - plus good looking women milling around - my kinda place :)

[jzucker]

they lost me at $18.99 / cd

[timmytVA]

Looper ... great story ... thanks for sharing.

Tim

[whitehall]

I will miss Borders a lot, went there all the time. A great place to drink coffee and read books and mags. Barnes and Noble is not quite the same. Hope Books a Million expands into some of the old Borders stores.

[zosozep7]

I never cared for Borders. Seemed like they were very unorganized. B n N is a whole lot better. You could hang out there for hours. Great place to meet for a first date or meet and greet!

[Old Tele man]

...Borders was generic, B&N is higher-class generic.

...I prefer Mom & Pop "dusty shelves" book stores where the books are older than I am.

[sixty2strat]

...Borders was generic, B&N is higher-class generic.

...I prefer Mom & Pop "dusty shelves" book stores where the books are older than I am.


Yes a used book store is a great place. loved the book taded inphilly on 3rd st. when I lived on 3rd st.


Seriously I have no idea where you guys live but till they showed up the only place to get a book was the little chain stores at the mall, who had no selection, a few very small used book stores or the yearly Libary used book sale fund raiser, 20.00 with get you a year rading. So when they came it was a good thing. They never took me in with their liberal hippy dippy image, smiling swarthmore grad/undergrad student, still it was a good thing that in the land of olive garden, bed bath n beyond and GC a large room was full of books.

Guess you guys like to mail order or this kindle stuff and sure it's cheaper but I always enjoyed browsing what book will strike my fancy, just like at a guitar store came for strings but bought a sitar.

[FiestaRed]

Went to a Borders today. Even with the sale, the stuff I was interested in was cheaper on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble with my wife's discount.

[silvertone1481]

I love Borders...IMHO it and Barnes and Noble are great places to buy a magazine, CD, or book. Came in handy for school...

[fusion58]

I was always more of a Powell's man (compared to which Borders is like the 7-11 of book stores.)

http://www.powells.com/

[cbpickin]

I was always more of a Powell's man (compared to which Borders is like the 7-11 of book stores.)

http://www.powells.com/


Powell's is unbelievable. I just got back from Portland and Powell's gave me hope that an independent store of any kind could still be competitive, and that people still read books!