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.
