Borders in USA to close

OldGunbunny · 07-18-2011, 06:04 PM

It appears the remainding Borders stores in the USA will close. The company apparently is unable to see their way thru reorganization.

Borders closing

ScalyFreak · 07-18-2011, 06:07 PM

Damn them! At this rate my town will be completely out of bookstores by next summer!

James_Wilde · 07-18-2011, 06:26 PM

When I saw your thread title I thought the TSA had decided to stop foreign travel. Shades of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale".

Shack70 · 07-18-2011, 06:46 PM

Can't say I didn't see this coming. They moved the ebook store to Kobo, that didn't help one bit. I actually went into our local Borders the other day with my son who really a book that I could not find at the library. I looked it up online and saw that the local borders had it in stock, got to the store, searched for it, searched for someone to help me, went to the cash register, paged someone and found they don't have any copies available but I could order it and pick up at a later date. By that time I had became a bit of a jerk and told the clerk that if I had wanted to order it I would have simply gone to Amazon in the first place. So now the closest book store to my house is over 40 minutes away once Borders closes.

No matter how hard I try I can't find books in Borders to save my life. Half the books are in alphabetical order by authors name and the other half are in a mystery order. You need to check three or four places for anything you are looking for. I'm not a big Barnes and Noble fan but they do kick Borders ass when it comes to finding what you are looking for.

shibamistress · 07-18-2011, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James_Wilde

When I saw your thread title I thought the TSA had decided to stop foreign travel. Shades of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale".

That made me laugh!

I figured this was coming, but I'm sad. We have more Borders than other bookstores, and they are much nicer than the one B&N we have, which isn't in a good location anyway.

I did see that B&N may buy some of the Borders stores. I hope they do here.

khalleron · 07-18-2011, 07:57 PM

I see the article, and probably everyone else, blames ebooks and online sales for Borders' demise.

The truth is that Borders has been poorly managed since Kmart bought them. They really have no one to blame but themselves.

jocampo · 07-18-2011, 08:09 PM

Well, I would not blame ebooks either, but they certainly are affecting the old bookstores business model. It is difficult to maintain a brick store (power, payroll, water, maintenance, etc) without selling lot of pbooks.

I see B&N in serious problems really soon too if they don't act quickly and change their business model. I do own a Kindle, but would not like to see B&N out of business, I visit the stores almost every weekend.

Ditchleyportrait · 07-18-2011, 08:29 PM

i own a 3g kindle. i download books in seconds. i don't need borders or bn.

bn's are hit or miss, but they have a vast selection of children's books. i had two different experiences in the same bn.

i concede that the trend of "buying online" is killing certain businesses, but if amazon does the book business better than b&m stores, i don't sympathize with these businesses.

kennyc · 07-18-2011, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shibamistress

That made me laugh!

I figured this was coming, but I'm sad. We have more Borders than other bookstores, and they are much nicer than the one B&N we have, which isn't in a good location anyway.

I did see that B&N may buy some of the Borders stores. I hope they do here.

If only!

fjtorres · 07-18-2011, 09:12 PM

Borders isn't quite dead yet and the BPHs are already whining.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/07/...-to-liquidate/

Quote:

Publishers said that with Borders gone, they would plan for smaller print runs and shipments. Employees at major publishing houses worried about layoffs because many companies have staff members who work only with Borders.
The closing could particularly hurt paperback sales. Borders was known as a retailer that took special care in selling paperbacks, and its promotion of certain titles could propel them to best-seller status.
When it filed for bankruptcy protection in February, Borders owed $272 million to its 30 largest unsecured creditors, including Penguin Group USA, Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster, Random House, HarperCollins and Macmillan. Most publishers were unwilling to restore normal trade terms to Borders after the bankruptcy filing and insisted on being paid for books in cash and in advance.

fbrII · 07-18-2011, 10:00 PM

Quote:

When it filed for bankruptcy protection in February, Borders owed $272 million to its 30 largest unsecured creditors, including Penguin Group USA, Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster, Random House, HarperCollins and Macmillan. Most publishers were unwilling to restore normal trade terms to Borders after the bankruptcy filing and insisted on being paid for books in cash and in advance.

Too bad the news isn't about Penguin, Hachette, Random House, Harper Collins and Macmillan and agency pricing. Maybe the next "they didn't know how to manage their business story"?

Now that would be poetic justice.

hughes · 07-18-2011, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jocampo

Well, I would not blame ebooks either, but they certainly are affecting the old bookstores business model. It is difficult to maintain a brick store (power, payroll, water, maintenance, etc) without selling lot of pbooks.

Interestingly, Mike Edwards, president of Borders Group, mentioned ereaders in his written statement:

Quote:

"We were all working hard towards a different outcome, but the headwinds we have been facing for quite some time, including the rapidly changing book industry, eReader revolution, and turbulent economy, have brought us to where we are now," Edwards said.

Latinandgreek · 07-18-2011, 11:25 PM

I don't live in the U.S., but I am sad to see that Borders is closing down.

jocampo · 07-18-2011, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ditchleyportrait

i own a 3g kindle. i download books in seconds. i don't need borders or bn.

Well, I'm a big Kindle and Amazon's fan but I must say that there is a social thing of visiting a bookstore like B&N, relax, drink a coffee , see people, drive ... or simple speaking, leaving home for a few hours.

Granted, their prices are high, and I don't even own a Nook, but I would be sad seeing B&N close for good.

Visiting a bookstore is like watching movies on a movie theater vs home. You will see and hear people screaming or crying on a movie theater. You will not, at least not in the same way, at home or your couch.

porkupan · 07-18-2011, 11:50 PM

Very sad indeed. The surprising thing for me was that the "turnaround experts" couldn't find anyone with a couple of hundred million bucks, who would believe in the future of brick and mortar book selling business. Not a single person! Even the competitors, who could have picked some of the best performing stores for pennies on the dollar, didn't step in...

Well, at least we still have some B&N stores nearby. I was never a big fan of the B&N, but it's better than nothing. It wouldn't surprise me if in a couple of years Amazon finished them off as well. Tax-free with free shipping is hard to beat.

07-18-2011, 06:04 PM	#1
OldGunbunny Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 51828 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: way down South in Gawguh! Device: 9 or so at last count	Borders in USA to close It appears the remainding Borders stores in the USA will close. The company apparently is unable to see their way thru reorganization. Borders closing

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
All Borders stores in Australia to close	sabredog	News	10	06-15-2011 01:37 PM
More Borders stores to close	jhempel24	News	48	03-21-2011 12:57 PM
Kindle 3 up close	Ben Thornton	Amazon Kindle	4	09-01-2010 06:19 PM
Borders (USA) is selling the PRS-600 for $100	Nate the great	News	6	05-15-2010 10:11 AM

07-18-2011, 06:07 PM	#2
ScalyFreak Sith Wannabe Posts: 2,034 Karma: 8017430 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: I'm not sure... it's kind of dark. Device: Galaxy Note 4, Kobo Aura H2O, Kindle Fire HD, Aluratek Libre	Damn them! At this rate my town will be completely out of bookstores by next summer!

07-18-2011, 06:26 PM	#3
James_Wilde Guru Posts: 802 Karma: 4727110 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Iriver Story	When I saw your thread title I thought the TSA had decided to stop foreign travel. Shades of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale".

07-18-2011, 06:46 PM	#4
Shack70 Guru Posts: 777 Karma: 1043626 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: York, Pa Device: Kindle Paperwhite 11th Generation	Can't say I didn't see this coming. They moved the ebook store to Kobo, that didn't help one bit. I actually went into our local Borders the other day with my son who really a book that I could not find at the library. I looked it up online and saw that the local borders had it in stock, got to the store, searched for it, searched for someone to help me, went to the cash register, paged someone and found they don't have any copies available but I could order it and pick up at a later date. By that time I had became a bit of a jerk and told the clerk that if I had wanted to order it I would have simply gone to Amazon in the first place. So now the closest book store to my house is over 40 minutes away once Borders closes. No matter how hard I try I can't find books in Borders to save my life. Half the books are in alphabetical order by authors name and the other half are in a mystery order. You need to check three or four places for anything you are looking for. I'm not a big Barnes and Noble fan but they do kick Borders ass when it comes to finding what you are looking for.

07-18-2011, 07:57 PM	#6
khalleron Kate Posts: 1,700 Karma: 3605799 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Oregon, United States Device: MeeBook, Kobo Libra Colour	I see the article, and probably everyone else, blames ebooks and online sales for Borders' demise. The truth is that Borders has been poorly managed since Kmart bought them. They really have no one to blame but themselves.

07-18-2011, 08:09 PM	#7
jocampo Layback feline Posts: 3,034 Karma: 6980745 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: USA Device: Oasis 2nd gen, Sony DPTS1, iPad Pro 10.5"	Well, I would not blame ebooks either, but they certainly are affecting the old bookstores business model. It is difficult to maintain a brick store (power, payroll, water, maintenance, etc) without selling lot of pbooks. I see B&N in serious problems really soon too if they don't act quickly and change their business model. I do own a Kindle, but would not like to see B&N out of business, I visit the stores almost every weekend.

07-18-2011, 08:29 PM	#8
Ditchleyportrait Fanatic Posts: 504 Karma: 780086 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: ny Device: Kindle DX Graphite	i own a 3g kindle. i download books in seconds. i don't need borders or bn. bn's are hit or miss, but they have a vast selection of children's books. i had two different experiences in the same bn. i concede that the trend of "buying online" is killing certain businesses, but if amazon does the book business better than b&m stores, i don't sympathize with these businesses.

07-18-2011, 11:25 PM	#13
Latinandgreek Warrior Princess Posts: 5,038 Karma: 9724231 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-505; PRS-350, PRS-T1, iPad, Aura HD	I don't live in the U.S., but I am sad to see that Borders is closing down.

07-18-2011, 11:50 PM	#15
porkupan Fanatic Posts: 556 Karma: 1057213 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Eastern U.S. Device: Sony Reader	Very sad indeed. The surprising thing for me was that the "turnaround experts" couldn't find anyone with a couple of hundred million bucks, who would believe in the future of brick and mortar book selling business. Not a single person! Even the competitors, who could have picked some of the best performing stores for pennies on the dollar, didn't step in... Well, at least we still have some B&N stores nearby. I was never a big fan of the B&N, but it's better than nothing. It wouldn't surprise me if in a couple of years Amazon finished them off as well. Tax-free with free shipping is hard to beat.

Advert

Advert