Borders is Gone

monster · 07-18-2011, 04:29 PM

http://www.annarbor.com/business-rev...group-e-books/

Not a good day for Ann Arbor, job-wise.

Pete Zicato · 07-18-2011, 04:58 PM

That's too bad. They were my favorite brick and mortar bookstore.

Rhianne · 07-18-2011, 05:26 PM

They went out of business over here about a year and a half ago. It was easy to see why, the shops were a mess in comparison to their rivals and, of course, expensive when compared to the supermarkets they seemed to be trying to compete with.

tw · 07-18-2011, 09:01 PM

Borders attempted to buy Barnes and Noble hoping to save itself. When that purchase failed, Borders was done.

Borders did zero innovation. Ignored threats such as Amazon. Then tried to buy their way out rather than change the business model. Bankruptcy is how bad management is eliminated. If it does not happen fast enough, then employees also suffer.

classicman · 07-18-2011, 09:52 PM

Guess we shouldn't have bailed out all those financials then.

Goodbye Borders - you screwed me once and I never went back. Now it'll just be ANOTHER empty hole in the strip mall.

ZenGum · 07-18-2011, 10:43 PM

I blame medicins sans frontiers.

And your grammar are wrong.

Aliantha · 07-18-2011, 11:50 PM

I appreciated borders loyalty to old school book readers/buyers. I guess I was in the minority though. Still, I will miss the big store in the city. I could spend a whole day there with the kids.

ZenGum · 07-18-2011, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aliantha

I appreciated borders loyalty to old school book readers/buyers. I guess I was in the minority though. Still, I will miss the big store in the city. I could spend a whole day there with the kids locked in the car.

FIFY

infinite monkey · 07-19-2011, 08:35 AM

Borders is gone. You know what else is gone? The thrill. The thrill is gone.

Not really, it just sounded funny. The thrill is alive and well and living in infi's shed.

Pete Zicato · 07-19-2011, 09:19 AM

Mrs. Z, Zing #2, and I went to Borders last night to use up gift cards before everything is gone.

It was kind of sad. I see this as more than the end of a single retailer. I think it forebodes the demise or at least reduction of brick and mortar retailers in general.

I also think it's an indicator of the trend toward electronic books.

Neither of these is a horrible outcome, I guess. But it will be a different world.

wolf · 07-19-2011, 04:25 PM

Borders remained the retailer come lately, minimal online presence and they got into the ebook market late.

I think I mentioned elsewhere that my friend was a store manager. Her Borders Express (i.e., small, normal-sized rather than mega-store) closed down around the same time as the 25k+ sq foot monstrosities earlier this year, but for different reasons ... the mall didn't renew their lease. As a consequence, she was released in a different manner than the managers of the big stores and came out ahead of the game ... got her retirement, for example, which the closure store managers didn't.

A lot of the people affected by this are longer-term employees, the ones who really love selling books, and have been with the chain for 10 or more years.

It's a shame, but it's not surprising.

TheMercenary · 07-19-2011, 06:17 PM

Sad, the demise of the book and replacement by Kindle's and other such electronic reading devices is a sad statement.

Aliantha · 07-19-2011, 06:44 PM

I'll be very surprised if my grandkids ever get to hold proper books, although that's probably a lie, because as an old fuddy duddy, I'll be giving them books. I'll probably be the only one though.

Even kids books are ebooks now.

monster · 07-19-2011, 08:36 PM

I just went to a book signing tonight at a local independant bookstore. There were enough bibliophiles there that I believe real books will continue for a long time. But they'll become more expensive and less mass market.

For the record, the reading was Bonnie Jo Campbell "Once Upon a River". She was the first author or anybody I ever sent a fan mail to after reading her first novel, Q Road. I have now sent two fan emails, so she's a member of an elite club.

glatt · 07-20-2011, 08:05 AM

What's all this talk about the demise of books? E-book sales are growing at a much faster rate than print sales, but print sales aren't declining. They are increasing.

2010 saw a 5% increase in print book sales from the year before. And the year before saw a 4% increase.

The number of titles available has grown dramatically over the last decade as barriers to publishing are lower.

There is tons of information out there on the statistics of book sales, but a decent summary of recent years is at this book tracking site.

07-18-2011, 04:29 PM	#1
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	Borders is Gone http://www.annarbor.com/business-rev...group-e-books/ Not a good day for Ann Arbor, job-wise. __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

07-18-2011, 09:52 PM	#5
classicman barely disguised asshole, keeper of all that is holy. Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 23,401	Guess we shouldn't have bailed out all those financials then. Goodbye Borders - you screwed me once and I never went back. Now it'll just be ANOTHER empty hole in the strip mall. __________________ "like strapping a pillow on a bull in a china shop" Bullitt

07-18-2011, 10:43 PM	#6
ZenGum Doctor Wtf Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Badelaide, Baustralia Posts: 12,861	I blame medicins sans frontiers. And your grammar are wrong. __________________ Shut up and hug. MoreThanPretty, Nov 5, 2008. Just because I'm nominally polite, does not make me a pussy. Sundae Girl.

07-18-2011, 11:50 PM	#7
Aliantha trying hard to be a better person Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 16,493	I appreciated borders loyalty to old school book readers/buyers. I guess I was in the minority though. Still, I will miss the big store in the city. I could spend a whole day there with the kids. __________________ Kind words are the music of the world. F. W. Faber

07-19-2011, 09:19 AM	#10
Pete Zicato Turns out my CRS is a symptom of TMB. Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Chicago suburbs Posts: 2,916	Mrs. Z, Zing #2, and I went to Borders last night to use up gift cards before everything is gone. It was kind of sad. I see this as more than the end of a single retailer. I think it forebodes the demise or at least reduction of brick and mortar retailers in general. I also think it's an indicator of the trend toward electronic books. Neither of these is a horrible outcome, I guess. But it will be a different world. __________________ Talk nerdy to me.

07-18-2011, 04:58 PM	#2
Pete Zicato Turns out my CRS is a symptom of TMB. Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Chicago suburbs Posts: 2,916	That's too bad. They were my favorite brick and mortar bookstore. __________________ Talk nerdy to me.

07-18-2011, 05:26 PM	#3
Rhianne Nearly done. Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Teetering on the edge. Posts: 1,134	They went out of business over here about a year and a half ago. It was easy to see why, the shops were a mess in comparison to their rivals and, of course, expensive when compared to the supermarkets they seemed to be trying to compete with.

07-18-2011, 09:01 PM	#4
tw Read? I only know how to write. Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 11,933	Borders attempted to buy Barnes and Noble hoping to save itself. When that purchase failed, Borders was done. Borders did zero innovation. Ignored threats such as Amazon. Then tried to buy their way out rather than change the business model. Bankruptcy is how bad management is eliminated. If it does not happen fast enough, then employees also suffer.

07-19-2011, 08:35 AM	#9
infinite monkey Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 13,002	Borders is gone. You know what else is gone? The thrill. The thrill is gone. Not really, it just sounded funny. The thrill is alive and well and living in infi's shed.

07-19-2011, 04:25 PM	#11
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Borders remained the retailer come lately, minimal online presence and they got into the ebook market late. I think I mentioned elsewhere that my friend was a store manager. Her Borders Express (i.e., small, normal-sized rather than mega-store) closed down around the same time as the 25k+ sq foot monstrosities earlier this year, but for different reasons ... the mall didn't renew their lease. As a consequence, she was released in a different manner than the managers of the big stores and came out ahead of the game ... got her retirement, for example, which the closure store managers didn't. A lot of the people affected by this are longer-term employees, the ones who really love selling books, and have been with the chain for 10 or more years. It's a shame, but it's not surprising. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

07-19-2011, 06:17 PM	#12
TheMercenary “Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo” Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Savannah, Georgia Posts: 21,393	Sad, the demise of the book and replacement by Kindle's and other such electronic reading devices is a sad statement. __________________ Anyone but the this most fuked up President in History in 2012!

07-19-2011, 06:44 PM	#13
Aliantha trying hard to be a better person Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 16,493	I'll be very surprised if my grandkids ever get to hold proper books, although that's probably a lie, because as an old fuddy duddy, I'll be giving them books. I'll probably be the only one though. Even kids books are ebooks now. __________________ Kind words are the music of the world. F. W. Faber

07-19-2011, 08:36 PM	#14
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	I just went to a book signing tonight at a local independant bookstore. There were enough bibliophiles there that I believe real books will continue for a long time. But they'll become more expensive and less mass market. For the record, the reading was Bonnie Jo Campbell "Once Upon a River". She was the first author or anybody I ever sent a fan mail to after reading her first novel, Q Road. I have now sent two fan emails, so she's a member of an elite club. __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

07-20-2011, 08:05 AM	#15
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	What's all this talk about the demise of books? E-book sales are growing at a much faster rate than print sales, but print sales aren't declining. They are increasing. 2010 saw a 5% increase in print book sales from the year before. And the year before saw a 4% increase. The number of titles available has grown dramatically over the last decade as barriers to publishing are lower. There is tons of information out there on the statistics of book sales, but a decent summary of recent years is at this book tracking site.

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