Borders, A&R & Whitcoulls under administration

sabredog · 02-17-2011, 01:01 AM

REDGroup retail (who owns Borders, Angus & Robertson & Whitcoulls) has been placed into voluntary administration.

http://www.news.com.au/business/bord...-1226007690029

No idea how this will affect the in-store retailing of the Kobo.

I doubt they will all close but nonetheless, it is not a good development.

viviena · 02-17-2011, 01:56 AM

I can't believe it. Borders and A&R at risk?

At least in my local area, that means Dymocks is the only non-budget bookstore now available. Despite all the criticism in the comments section of various newspapers, I know many people who enjoyed the atmosphere of my local Borders in particular and gave them a lot of custom, and thanks to Border's heavy promotion of ereaders, these people became aware of ebooks when they otherwise wouldn't have given them a second thought. A&R hasn't been as good since REDgroup took them over, but I'm disappointed to learn they're at threat too.

sabredog · 02-17-2011, 02:07 AM

It is a sad day indeed if Dymocks (an organisation that has not embraced the changes towards digital format books) is the sole remaining B&M store remaining.

They had extremely limited range instore and the staff I have found to be less than knowledgeable and uninformed.

tubemonkey · 02-17-2011, 03:21 AM

There's always public domain.

sabredog · 02-17-2011, 03:47 AM

Amazon, Kobo and the darknet

Solicitous · 02-17-2011, 04:46 AM

Blind Freddy could have seen this coming. A few factors stopped me shopping at A&R

1) most of the long term older staff came across snobish, almost like "I'm so above you, I work in a book store and you are here buying a Tom Clancy. Who buys a Tom Clancy? Smart people read x artsy fartsy book"

2) Price. I completely understand overheads and keeping a shop front open in a city CBD, so pricing will be higher than some of those online stores, and I would have preferred to support local, but most of the time the books I was buying (before ebooks) were near 100% dearer than buying online.

3) Kind of related to point 1, lack of atmosphere. I just felt going into an A&R that up the front would be numerous copies of latest release books, then the middle section felt like a scattering of select novels, and up the back dark and gloomy kids books and self-help section. Forget trying to get decent non-fiction.

4) Online prices for books from A&R differed to store price. Why? I felt even more like I was being ripped off buying from store.

5) ecommerce is one thing, and yes companies do have to move that way, but I feel A&R didn't move with customer demands. IMHO a customer wants either good price for their books, or if at current price offer more than some teenager who is cheap wage for a weekend or cranky worker being disgusted with your choice of book. How about a couch A&R?

AprilHare · 02-17-2011, 06:58 AM

This thread should have been in the main News section. After all, A&R etc. were selling other ebook readers at the end, and it's quite big news, not just to Kobo owners!
I made a thread before seeing this one..

sabredog · 02-17-2011, 09:27 AM

The issue started being discussed earlier here;

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...77#post1399877

bairdn · 02-17-2011, 04:31 PM

Sent this to both Kobo & Borders (AU) this morning - waiting on a response:

I was wondering what the situation is now that Borders AU have gone into administration. As you're aware, it is difficult to purchase eBooks (read impossible) within Australia except from Borders.com.au and Angus & Robertson, and now that both have gone into administration, are you aware of any other options we may have?

The Terminator · 02-17-2011, 05:32 PM

Will this affect chapters/indigo ?

dmacmart · 02-17-2011, 06:17 PM

Kobo's update:
http://blog.kobobooks.com/2011/02/16/kobo-update/

Quote:

Today, Borders announced that they were filing for bankruptcy protection under US law while they restructure their business.

What does this mean for Kobo customers?
Nothing. Kobo is an independent, financially secure company that provides a Global eReading Service. Today will be another day filled with books being downloaded every second by Kobo users in over 100 countries.

I presume chapters/indigo is even more removed from the mix.

sabredog · 02-17-2011, 07:23 PM

It may well mean the Kobo will not be available for purchase at a B&M store (currently being sold here by Borders and A&R).

That may well mean online purchase only and the big advantage for Kobo over the Kindle is the ability for interested bookworms to gain a bit of hands on experience before deciding on purchase.

viviena · 02-17-2011, 10:53 PM

Reposting from the News forum, since I think a fair few Aussie Kobo owners lurk here:

-----------------------------

For those who have gift cards from Borders or A&R:

Double trouble for holders of Borders' gift cards

Quote:

Borders and Angus & Robertson customers left holding gift certificates after the booksellers fell into voluntary administration are being told they must spend double the amount of each voucher in order to redeem the cards.

I have a $20 gift card. I don't mind losing it, however, not if I have to shell out extra cash. I imagine since Christmas wasn't that long ago, that there's still a lot of people who haven't spent theirs. I've also heard that people with gift cards are teaming up with people making cash purchases, so if you're in this situation... it's better than nothing.

(Also, a small LOL at how security guards had to be called in at one of their stores.)

kiwipippa · 02-17-2011, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bairdn

Sent this to both Kobo & Borders (AU) this morning - waiting on a response:

I was wondering what the situation is now that Borders AU have gone into administration. As you're aware, it is difficult to purchase eBooks (read impossible) within Australia except from Borders.com.au and Angus & Robertson, and now that both have gone into administration, are you aware of any other options we may have?

You can buy ebooks through kobo can't you? I haven't bought an ebook through Whitcoulls for months after finding their prices are consistently higher (often MUCH higher) than kobo (or others that I shouldn't strictly be using anyway!)

kiwipippa · 02-18-2011, 12:18 AM

Is there any risk to those who only use the borders/whitcoulls app to manage their books, or only use the wifi store? If the retailer goes under and the websites are pulled, would this leave ebook owners without access to their books?

I always download the epub so I have a file to play with, but using the app you have no file - it is all sync'd to the cloud.

02-17-2011, 01:01 AM	#1
sabredog Geographically Restricted Posts: 2,629 Karma: 14933353 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Perth, Australia Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kindle Voyage, iPad Air2, Nexus7v2	Borders, A&R & Whitcoulls under administration REDGroup retail (who owns Borders, Angus & Robertson & Whitcoulls) has been placed into voluntary administration. http://www.news.com.au/business/bord...-1226007690029 No idea how this will affect the in-store retailing of the Kobo. I doubt they will all close but nonetheless, it is not a good development.

02-17-2011, 01:56 AM	#2
viviena Evangelist Posts: 412 Karma: 520610 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Canberra, Australia Device: Currently Kobo Clara HD and Aura One, iPad	I can't believe it. Borders and A&R at risk? At least in my local area, that means Dymocks is the only non-budget bookstore now available. Despite all the criticism in the comments section of various newspapers, I know many people who enjoyed the atmosphere of my local Borders in particular and gave them a lot of custom, and thanks to Border's heavy promotion of ereaders, these people became aware of ebooks when they otherwise wouldn't have given them a second thought. A&R hasn't been as good since REDgroup took them over, but I'm disappointed to learn they're at threat too. Last edited by viviena; 02-17-2011 at 05:52 AM. Reason: mixed up the wrong newspapers

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02-17-2011, 02:07 AM	#3
sabredog Geographically Restricted Posts: 2,629 Karma: 14933353 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Perth, Australia Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kindle Voyage, iPad Air2, Nexus7v2	It is a sad day indeed if Dymocks (an organisation that has not embraced the changes towards digital format books) is the sole remaining B&M store remaining. They had extremely limited range instore and the staff I have found to be less than knowledgeable and uninformed.

02-17-2011, 03:21 AM	#4
tubemonkey monkey on the fringe Posts: 45,746 Karma: 158575914 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Seattle Metro Device: Moto E6, Echo Show	There's always public domain.

02-17-2011, 03:47 AM	#5
sabredog Geographically Restricted Posts: 2,629 Karma: 14933353 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Perth, Australia Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kindle Voyage, iPad Air2, Nexus7v2	Amazon, Kobo and the darknet

02-17-2011, 04:46 AM	#6
Solicitous Wizard Posts: 1,434 Karma: 1525776 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: TAS, Australia Device: Astak Pocket Pro (Black), 2 x Kindle WiFi (Graphite), iPod Touch 4G	Blind Freddy could have seen this coming. A few factors stopped me shopping at A&R 1) most of the long term older staff came across snobish, almost like "I'm so above you, I work in a book store and you are here buying a Tom Clancy. Who buys a Tom Clancy? Smart people read x artsy fartsy book" 2) Price. I completely understand overheads and keeping a shop front open in a city CBD, so pricing will be higher than some of those online stores, and I would have preferred to support local, but most of the time the books I was buying (before ebooks) were near 100% dearer than buying online. 3) Kind of related to point 1, lack of atmosphere. I just felt going into an A&R that up the front would be numerous copies of latest release books, then the middle section felt like a scattering of select novels, and up the back dark and gloomy kids books and self-help section. Forget trying to get decent non-fiction. 4) Online prices for books from A&R differed to store price. Why? I felt even more like I was being ripped off buying from store. 5) ecommerce is one thing, and yes companies do have to move that way, but I feel A&R didn't move with customer demands. IMHO a customer wants either good price for their books, or if at current price offer more than some teenager who is cheap wage for a weekend or cranky worker being disgusted with your choice of book. How about a couch A&R?

02-17-2011, 06:58 AM	#7
AprilHare Wizard Posts: 2,981 Karma: 11862367 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony Reader PRS-T2	This thread should have been in the main News section. After all, A&R etc. were selling other ebook readers at the end, and it's quite big news, not just to Kobo owners! I made a thread before seeing this one..

02-17-2011, 09:27 AM	#8
sabredog Geographically Restricted Posts: 2,629 Karma: 14933353 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Perth, Australia Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kindle Voyage, iPad Air2, Nexus7v2	The issue started being discussed earlier here; https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...77#post1399877

02-17-2011, 04:31 PM	#9
bairdn Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kob	Sent this to both Kobo & Borders (AU) this morning - waiting on a response: I was wondering what the situation is now that Borders AU have gone into administration. As you're aware, it is difficult to purchase eBooks (read impossible) within Australia except from Borders.com.au and Angus & Robertson, and now that both have gone into administration, are you aware of any other options we may have?

02-17-2011, 05:32 PM	#10
The Terminator Retired Posts: 2,552 Karma: 37638420 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver Island Canada Device: Kobo Touch, Optimus One (2.3), Nexus 7 (4.2)	Will this affect chapters/indigo ?

02-17-2011, 07:23 PM	#12
sabredog Geographically Restricted Posts: 2,629 Karma: 14933353 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Perth, Australia Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kindle Voyage, iPad Air2, Nexus7v2	It may well mean the Kobo will not be available for purchase at a B&M store (currently being sold here by Borders and A&R). That may well mean online purchase only and the big advantage for Kobo over the Kindle is the ability for interested bookworms to gain a bit of hands on experience before deciding on purchase.

02-18-2011, 12:18 AM	#15
kiwipippa Fanatic Posts: 578 Karma: 613022 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: New Zealand Device: kobo glo, kobo touch (dead), kindle touch, android phone	Is there any risk to those who only use the borders/whitcoulls app to manage their books, or only use the wifi store? If the retailer goes under and the websites are pulled, would this leave ebook owners without access to their books? I always download the epub so I have a file to play with, but using the app you have no file - it is all sync'd to the cloud.

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