"Borders' Woes Help E-Books"

Paul Levine · 02-14-2011, 01:08 PM

That’s the headline in today’s Wall Street Journal about the impending Chapter 11 filing by the bookstore chain. The move is expected to close more than one-third of the Borders’ 674 remaining stores.

“Once physical shelf space is gone, it’s gone forever,” Mark Coker, of Smashwords, is quoted as saying.

On Saturday, in the Journal, Mike Shatzkin, a respected publishing consultant, opined that 90% of bookstore shelf space would be gone in a few years.

Ninety per cent! A breathtaking, heartbreaking number.

Is there a glimmer of good news in this? The Journal speculates that e-book sales will grow even faster. So, there’s a bright side for the manufacturers of e-book devices, for the promotional and marketing companies springing up to goose e-bok sales, for Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook, and companies like Smashwords. For writers of e-books and writers of dead tree books who are putting up their backlists on Amazon et al (as I’m doing), it’s good news too.

But so bittersweet. I feel for the employees who will be tossed out of work, for mainstream publishers who will distribute fewer books – and possibly lay off more workers – and for readers who will miss the experience of bookstores in their neighborhoods.

Your thoughts?

Paul Levine
The Jake Lassiter Series

queentess · 02-14-2011, 01:19 PM

If the majority of bookstores vanish, I'll miss browsing in a bookstore. But as I don't buy paperbooks to support them, I really can't complain too much.

Where I currently live there's a Borders, B&N, Joseph Beth, and a handful of used bookstores. Borders is always my last choice because the selection and atmosphere are so terrible.

EDIT: Correction, apparently the Joseph Beth near me closed within the past 4 months. I really loved their atmosphere, but again, I don't buy paperbooks. I'm still sad though.

Namekuseijin · 02-14-2011, 02:39 PM

sign o' times...

can't say we didn't see it coming...

jbcohen · 02-14-2011, 03:17 PM

Does this mean that the internet site will stay in business?

nyrath · 02-14-2011, 03:52 PM

Do you remember music record album stores? They are pretty much gone now.

fjtorres · 02-14-2011, 05:28 PM

I'd be careful about over-generalizing from Borders to the greater industry but...
If bookstores vanish, well...
(Shrug)

How about tobacco shops?
Newstands?
There used to be one in every neighborhood.
How about speakeasies and town stables?

Times change. Those that don't factor this into their business plans end up as roadkill.

Think about it: Borders has twenty year leases on some of those monster storefronts of theirs! Never mind technology changes, what about demographic changes? They expected their business to remain unchanged for a full generation? Riighhtt...

They're supposed to be closing a third of their stores: anybody want to bet how many of those are in the midwest and northeast and how many in the south and west?

It's easy to blame ebooks or online pbook sales but the plain truth is Borders' management for the past decade-plus has proven they couldn't find their own rears without GPS guidance.

elcreative · 02-14-2011, 06:02 PM

Actually the music record album stores have made a considerable comeback, it's the CD album stores in trouble.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyrath

Do you remember music record album stores? They are pretty much gone now.

cfrizz · 02-14-2011, 07:04 PM

I sympathize for the employees who will be out of work.

J. Strnad · 02-15-2011, 12:41 AM

I am sorry for those whose jobs disappear. As one of those people (a few years ago), I can promise that life goes on, but it can be hell to go through those changes.

HarleyB · 02-15-2011, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by queentess

If the majority of bookstores vanish, I'll miss browsing in a bookstore. But as I don't buy paperbooks to support them, I really can't complain too much.

My thoughts exactly.

chyron8472 · 02-15-2011, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarleyB

My thoughts exactly.

same.

hols57 · 02-15-2011, 05:53 AM

They went in the UK of course. Pure book chains are finding it hard. The supermarkets have taken a large share of the paperback market, with their discounting of all chart books, especially ASDA (Walmart owned), and Tesco. Then Amazon takes the rest, or so it seems.

Anthem · 02-15-2011, 11:02 AM

Employers are one step closer to needing nothing but robots and computers (sometimes in robots!).

fjtorres · 02-15-2011, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anthem

Employers are one step closer to needing nothing but robots and computers (sometimes in robots!).

One of Amazon's strengths as an online retailer (besides their secret life as an Internet *technology* company) is their heavily automated warehouses where order filling is to a large extent carried out by robots. They should be getting even more efficient shortly as they bought out Diapers.com because they had developed robot software that was significantly better than what Amazon had available.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39633906..._businessweek/

Most companies these days are using automation to leverage humans brainpower into higher productivity so they use humans where their judgment is valuable and moving to robots where dumb (robotic) "muscle" power suffices.

Welcome to the 21st century!

No flying cars (yet) but the rest of the wonders are coming along nicely.

jbcohen · 02-15-2011, 01:34 PM

I have found that record stores have become a part of book shops rather than being stand alone stores. Tobaco shops are still around and quite prelevant where I am and speakeasys are still quite common its that you are not calling them the right thing, call them night clubs and they are still around in most larger towns.

02-14-2011, 01:08 PM	#1
Paul Levine Connoisseur Posts: 75 Karma: 725480 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Los Angeles Device: Kindle	"Borders' Woes Help E-Books" That’s the headline in today’s Wall Street Journal about the impending Chapter 11 filing by the bookstore chain. The move is expected to close more than one-third of the Borders’ 674 remaining stores. “Once physical shelf space is gone, it’s gone forever,” Mark Coker, of Smashwords, is quoted as saying. On Saturday, in the Journal, Mike Shatzkin, a respected publishing consultant, opined that 90% of bookstore shelf space would be gone in a few years. Ninety per cent! A breathtaking, heartbreaking number. Is there a glimmer of good news in this? The Journal speculates that e-book sales will grow even faster. So, there’s a bright side for the manufacturers of e-book devices, for the promotional and marketing companies springing up to goose e-bok sales, for Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook, and companies like Smashwords. For writers of e-books and writers of dead tree books who are putting up their backlists on Amazon et al (as I’m doing), it’s good news too. But so bittersweet. I feel for the employees who will be tossed out of work, for mainstream publishers who will distribute fewer books – and possibly lay off more workers – and for readers who will miss the experience of bookstores in their neighborhoods. Your thoughts? Paul Levine The Jake Lassiter Series

02-14-2011, 01:19 PM	#2
queentess Reading is sexy Posts: 1,303 Karma: 544517 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: none	If the majority of bookstores vanish, I'll miss browsing in a bookstore. But as I don't buy paperbooks to support them, I really can't complain too much. Where I currently live there's a Borders, B&N, Joseph Beth, and a handful of used bookstores. Borders is always my last choice because the selection and atmosphere are so terrible. EDIT: Correction, apparently the Joseph Beth near me closed within the past 4 months. I really loved their atmosphere, but again, I don't buy paperbooks. I'm still sad though. Last edited by queentess; 02-14-2011 at 01:22 PM.

02-14-2011, 05:28 PM	#6
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	I'd be careful about over-generalizing from Borders to the greater industry but... If bookstores vanish, well... (Shrug) How about tobacco shops? Newstands? There used to be one in every neighborhood. How about speakeasies and town stables? Times change. Those that don't factor this into their business plans end up as roadkill. Think about it: Borders has twenty year leases on some of those monster storefronts of theirs! Never mind technology changes, what about demographic changes? They expected their business to remain unchanged for a full generation? Riighhtt... They're supposed to be closing a third of their stores: anybody want to bet how many of those are in the midwest and northeast and how many in the south and west? It's easy to blame ebooks or online pbook sales but the plain truth is Borders' management for the past decade-plus has proven they couldn't find their own rears without GPS guidance. Last edited by fjtorres; 02-14-2011 at 05:30 PM.

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02-14-2011, 02:39 PM	#3
Namekuseijin affordable chipmunk Posts: 1,290 Karma: 9863855 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Brazil Device: Sony XPeria ZL, Kindle Paperwhite	sign o' times... can't say we didn't see it coming...

02-14-2011, 03:17 PM	#4
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,025 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Piper College Device: Samsung A21	Does this mean that the internet site will stay in business?

02-14-2011, 03:52 PM	#5
nyrath Addict Posts: 281 Karma: 52007 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: nook	Do you remember music record album stores? They are pretty much gone now.

02-14-2011, 07:04 PM	#8
cfrizz Wizard Posts: 1,531 Karma: 34583358 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Quincy, MA Device: Samsung 54A, Kobo Libra H2O, Samsung S6 Lite	I sympathize for the employees who will be out of work.

02-15-2011, 12:41 AM	#9
J. Strnad Guru Posts: 915 Karma: 3537194 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kobo, Kindle 3, Paperwhite	I am sorry for those whose jobs disappear. As one of those people (a few years ago), I can promise that life goes on, but it can be hell to go through those changes.

02-15-2011, 05:53 AM	#12
hols57 hols57 Posts: 74 Karma: 42 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Wales, UK Device: sony 300packed up -thanks,Sony!) Kindle	They went in the UK of course. Pure book chains are finding it hard. The supermarkets have taken a large share of the paperback market, with their discounting of all chart books, especially ASDA (Walmart owned), and Tesco. Then Amazon takes the rest, or so it seems.

02-15-2011, 11:02 AM	#13
Anthem Guru Posts: 704 Karma: 1622328 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle Oasis, OnePlus Nord	Employers are one step closer to needing nothing but robots and computers (sometimes in robots!).

02-15-2011, 01:34 PM	#15
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,025 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Piper College Device: Samsung A21	I have found that record stores have become a part of book shops rather than being stand alone stores. Tobaco shops are still around and quite prelevant where I am and speakeasys are still quite common its that you are not calling them the right thing, call them night clubs and they are still around in most larger towns.