Mitch Albom on the likely demise of Borders

[sparrow]

Mitch Albom drives me a bit bonkers, but he is spot on in his column today about the almost certain demise of Borders. I really hated the "superstores" that developed when Borders went corporate. The original Ann Arbor store *was* magical. Now it's ALL going to be gone.

 

As Borders fades, so does bookstore magic

[brightside]

It is very sad, but deserved. All of the stores in my area have put there emphasis on toys and games. :( It is hard to find decent books there anymore. I miss bookstores that sell actual books.

[Lady Florida.]

I've only been in one Borders store (in Orlando) and I wasn't impressed. I'm also a bit puzzled at the sadness of the big box bookstores going under. Where was the sadness when these stores put mom and pop bookstores out of business?

[sparrow]

I've only been in one Borders store (in Orlando) and I wasn't impressed. I'm also a bit puzzled at the sadness of the big box bookstores going under. Where was the sadness when these stores put mom and pop bookstores out of business?

 

That's really what this is about. Borders WAS that mom and pop bookstore. That is where the sadness comes from. Borders was just a huge, really cool, *destination* bookstore in Ann Arbor, MI. It was started by two brothers. It went corporate and tried to compete with Barnes and Noble. Basically, they got too big for their britches. I wish it had stayed mom and pop :(.

[kalanamak]

That's really what this is about. Borders WAS that mom and pop bookstore. That is where the sadness comes from. Borders was just a huge, really cool, *destination* bookstore in Ann Arbor, MI.

 

Sounds like Powell's which was a father and son (?) team in Chicago and Portland. Lovely place to visit when you are in P-land.

 

Books have changed and the way we get books has changed.

[TXMary2]

In my area there is a used book store chain called Half Price Books. It is almost always packed (even when I was there at 9pm last night) and they have books galore! They don't sell coffee, but there are cozy chairs to sit in. They don't sell toys unless it comes with a book. They have old National Geographics too and a fabulous Nostalgia section. I would literally cry if these bookstores went away!

 

I had only been to one Borders, but like Barnes and Noble they were too expensive. I think Amazon has a lot to do with the demise of bookstores selling "new."

[Farrar]

I didn't agree with the piece. Statistically, people *are* reading. To say that the printed word is gasping and dying is absurd to me. Printed on paper, maybe, but there's more content to read than ever - published "officially" and unofficially. That's a triumph for words and readers. Borders is dying because their business model, their service, and so forth are all failing up against online retailers and e-books, not because people are reading less.

 

I do mourn having that sort of browsing and sitting in the bookstore reading experience that I used to have. But Borders killed that more than a decade ago when they pulled out all the comfy chairs.

[gingersmom]

I love going to book stores, but their prices are just too high. We have a local Barns and Nobles and even to get a frequent buyer discount one must pay for the discount (it makes no sense to me). I'll be sad if/when they go away, but I can't exactly afford to keep them in business either.

 

You can get an educator discount card from Barnes & Noble. I don't remember how much I save but I think it is 20%.

 

I just told them I was a homeschooler, filled out the application and they gave it to me on the spot.

[Matryoshka]

You can get an educator discount card from Barnes & Noble. I don't remember how much I save but I think it is 20%.

 

I just told them I was a homeschooler, filled out the application and they gave it to me on the spot.

 

Yep. And a number of times a year they have Educator Weeks and you can get almost anything in the store for 25% off.

 

The Educator card/discount also works on the B&N website.

[Sharon H in IL]

Yep. And a number of times a year they have Educator Weeks and you can get almost anything in the store for 25% off.

 

The Educator card/discount also works on the B&N website.

 

My experience has been less than wonderful with B&N. My educator card NEVER worked on their website. Even during educator weeks a lot of the best (A & E, BBC) dvds and all music cds were excluded. :confused:

 

It seemed to me that their advertising dept would come up with all these great ideas, but they never managed to have the software able to perform. And they wouldn't order books from outside their company, even if it was in print. I would go in with a long list of books that I was hoping to buy during educator week, and walk out with one, and another on back order. That's all. :001_huh:

 

I have fond memories of destination bookstores, large and small. Never made it to the original Borders. That would have been heaven.

[Brigitte]

The problem I have with bookstores is that the kid's section is always the same old stuff with some trendy new stuff thrown in. Never do you find books by Louisa May Alcott other than Little Women and occasionally, Little Men. for example. They all seem to be so shallow in their selection.

[Dandelion]

Interesting article...

 

I love hanging out in bookstores (not that I get much of a chance anymore these days). Pre-kids, I often hung out at Barnes & Noble in one of those comfy overstuffed chairs on weekend afternoons, checking out the latest books. Before I discovered the library ("They'll let you check out books for free? Really??" :D), I used to buy 1-2 books from B&N a week. DH is glad I now have a library card.

 

Regarding Albom's point that "The problem is people don't love books the way they once did, nor do they read them the same way." - I think the second part is key. I think people are still reading just as much - but they're now downloading their books onto their Kindle, etc. I've been wondering how long the traditional book business can survive. I don't have a Kindle-type device and I'm not sure I'll get one - there's something about holding a book in your hands and turning the pages that I'm not sure I'm ready to give up...

 

You can get an educator discount card from Barnes & Noble. I don't remember how much I save but I think it is 20%.

 

I just told them I was a homeschooler, filled out the application and they gave it to me on the spot.

 

Didn't know this - thanks! :)

[EthiopianFood]

That's really what this is about. Borders WAS that mom and pop bookstore. That is where the sadness comes from. Borders was just a huge, really cool, *destination* bookstore in Ann Arbor, MI. It was started by two brothers. It went corporate and tried to compete with Barnes and Noble. Basically, they got too big for their britches. I wish it had stayed mom and pop :(.

 

Wow, I had no idea!

[Satori]

My B&N requires me to show them my lesson plans, a teacher's homeschool id, or other paper proof. Then I get their card for the 20% discount off education items only. I had a homeschool ID for my daughter on me, but she acted way too happy to have to refuse it as a valid form of homeschooling proof. :(

[Sebastian (a lady)]

My B&N requires me to show them my lesson plans, a teacher's homeschool id, or other paper proof. Then I get their card for the 20% discount off education items only. I had a homeschool ID for my daughter on me, but she acted way too happy to have to refuse it as a valid form of homeschooling proof. :(

 

This has come up occasionally before. Often it seems like a clerk who is acting as a gatekeeper beyond their authority. Talking to the manager (perhaps with a copy of state law on homeschooling) is often helpful.

[angela in ohio]

My B&N educator card was more of a pain than it was worth. At most stores, you have to show proof of homeschooling, which is difficult in a state with low homeschool regulations. And then every time I used it, the clerk would eye me up and down and ask if I was really going to be using it in the classroom. For a lousy 20%, which still made the book more expensive than Amazon. No thank you! :D

 

Borders came to town here to compete with B&N, which then put the "mom & pop" place (with lousy service and terrible prices) out of business. Then a Books-a-Million and a second B&N opened south of the city.

 

Everyone moaned about losing the local store, but they certainly didn't do anything to try to stay alive. It was one of those stores where you felt like they were doing you a favor to wait on you. We have kept our Borders so far, so we have one of each across the street from each other. Borders recently switched the children's section over to nothing but toys and picture books. The shelves of series and classic books, history and science, are about gone. We never buy books for dc there. We usually go to Books-a-Million for their books, if they want something right away.

[Mimm]

My B&N requires me to show them my lesson plans, a teacher's homeschool id, or other paper proof. Then I get their card for the 20% discount off education items only. I had a homeschool ID for my daughter on me, but she acted way too happy to have to refuse it as a valid form of homeschooling proof. :(

 

Wow, I think you met someone power tripping. When I got mine, the woman asked if I had any proof that I'm a homeschooler. I said I could bring my kids in during school hours if she liked. She laughed and just said to fill out the application. When I buy stuff (I don't buy music or dvds there and I think these are excluded) they ask if it's for use in the classroom. I usually say, "We homeschool. Everywhere is the classroom." No one's ever acted even slightly miffed at this.

 

The selection isn't as awesome as Amazon, but how could it be? It's just one store, Amazon has warehouses everywhere, and they don't have to have their books are prettily displayed for you. When you order a large order from Amazon, it can come in two or three boxes, even when all the books are in stocks, simply because they ship from different warehouses. I do love Amazon, but I've spent such valuable time with my kids in Barnes and Noble. I've taken them there, just for the fun of it, and they rarely walk out without a new book. My brother usually gives them B&N gift cards for their birthdays and they are always excited. Sure, they could go to the library, and we do, and they enjoy it, but there's something special about owning a new book. My kids read every day to themselves and each other. I love Amazon and shop there a lot but I would be sad to see B&N go the same way as Borders.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Mitch Albom drives me a bit bonkers, but he is spot on in his column today about the almost certain demise of Borders. I really hated the "superstores" that developed when Borders went corporate. The original Ann Arbor store *was* magical. Now it's ALL going to be gone.

 

As Borders fades, so does bookstore magic

 

I find it ironic coming from Albom, whom I consider symbolic of the triumph of commercial appeal over quality writing. (The Five People You Meet in Heaven could have been read standing in a Borders, before going off to grab coffee.)

 

The commercially appealing and successful has taken over the space for the quirky and classic in both Borders and Barnes and Noble. A week after September 11th, I was in a Borders outside DC, looking for a book that would help me make sense of what had just happened. I ended up with Judith Miller's book on Mid East history and a cultural anthropology collection on the area. I think I'd be hard pressed to find either in a current Borders.

 

I stopped into one big store last week. A huge amount of former shelf space was given over to displays and testing areas for the Nook. The children's section was unnavigable, being so hyper divided by age group and gender that it was tough to see what was there at all. I was struck by how few books were there. Not only were most of the books face out (better for marketing), but there was lots of open space on shelves. A large section was devoted to kids' games and activity kids (Playmobil, Lego, ThinkFun, etc) that was larger than the science fiction section. Another large area was filled with more adult games like Settlers of Catan. (I have mixed emotions on this since we bought both our beloved toy cash register and Munchkin at a Borders. Not to mention our giant stuffed snake. Yet I still think it's a risk to be taking the emphasis off of books.)

 

The science section was two small book cases, mostly devoted to coffee table picture books. The magazine section had strunk to about a third its former size (which might have as much to do with the demise of magazines as choices made at Borders' head offices). The big reading chairs were long ago removed.

 

In short, Borders has ceased to be a place I long to go, because it stopped being a place that satisfied me as a reader or as a shopper.

 

As a reader, I still buy tons of books (several hundreds of dollars a year through Amazon, a thousand or so a year via Half Priced Books, a couple hundred from used book sellers and dozens more traded via Paperback Swap). But Borders can't match Amazon for price, can't match a used bookstore for price or selection (or the quirky sense of discovering an unknown need that Borders used to fill well), and now lacks the sense of reading destination that it's chairs and tables used to provide.

[Catherine]

I think he missed the point. Borders used to be a Mom and Pop, but here it was driven out of business in a very direct and intentional way by BN. BN is both book supplier and seller so set the terms of business, and Borders could no longer compete. I avoid BN whenever I'm able.

[ereks mom]

Just last week, we were at B&N, and ER commented to me, "Why does everybody want to be Walmart? This is supposed to be a bookstore, and they have a whole section of toys! They even have a sign over the toy department."

[Orthodox6]

It is very sad, but deserved. All of the stores in my area have put there emphasis on toys and games. :( It is hard to find decent books there anymore. I miss bookstores that sell actual books.

 

This describes Barnes and Noble, equally.

[DarcyB]

Amazon is really a huge reason why the book market is going downhill - that and the dumbing down of America. I started out as a bookseller at B&N and ended up in the corporate side during the Amazon creation. It hit hard. There is no way the superstore can compete with the selection nor the price when they have enormous overheads to cover that Amazon doesn't. They can't compete with the need for selection vs. the American public's desire to buy the 'popular' books. You can only stock books on shelves so long that never move and carry that inventory load, before you have to look at depleting some stock because you're so heavy on inventory dollars. If they aren't turning over, they end up being removed.

 

Americans may still be reading, but they aren't reading with the depth and breadth they used to.

 

And someone mentioned magazine footage at a Borders - and you're correct. There was such an overload of magazines during the 80's/90's, and the first thing many companies do when they're tightening their belts is decrease advertising, thus magazines having a hard time competing for those same advertising dollars that were depleated by the ecpnomy. In the last 5 years, we've lost TONS of magazines simply to that reason. There are limited dollars now, and they just can't compete.

 

I shop at Half Price most often now, and hit up Amazon if I can't find it in the two that are near us. There is a Borders down the street, but my personal economy allows me to buy there only occasionally.

 

Libraries are being hit the same way that bookstores are. We are aghast each week that we go into our public library and see what they are decommissioning simply in the terms of too many books on the shelves never being checked out. We've been able to build up our home library thanks to this, but are deeply saddened at what isn't going to be available for other children to read any longer :(

[Stacie Leigh]

I love going to book stores, but their prices are just too high. We have a local Barns and Nobles and even to get a frequent buyer discount one must pay for the discount (it makes no sense to me). I'll be sad if/when they go away, but I can't exactly afford to keep them in business either.

 

 

I feel the same way. We very often frequent Barnes & Noble and the kids sit and read or play or act on the little stage in the kids' area, but I look and don't buy for the most part. (I bought a few Spectrum workbooks there once and a journal here or there.)

 

It's just that I can go home and buy them on Amazon for 40% off what their list price is.

 

My mom LIVES in B&N and she buys a little more often than I do. If it wasn't for the Starbucks inside these places, I doubt they'd stay open.

[Jenny in Florida]

My experience has been less than wonderful with B&N. My educator card NEVER worked on their website. Even during educator weeks a lot of the best (A & E, BBC) dvds and all music cds were excluded. :confused:

 

I haven't bothered to update my educator card in a couple of years, because we finally decided to just pay for a membership. However, I remember being told up front that the educator discount was not available online?

[Lady Florida.]

That's really what this is about. Borders WAS that mom and pop bookstore. That is where the sadness comes from. Borders was just a huge, really cool, *destination* bookstore in Ann Arbor, MI. It was started by two brothers. It went corporate and tried to compete with Barnes and Noble. Basically, they got too big for their britches. I wish it had stayed mom and pop :(.

 

Ah. So was Starbucks, so was Target, so was Walmart, etc. Most big corporate stores were mom and pop at some point. But then they got so big and put other mom and pops out of business. I wish there were still mom and pops content to compete locally with one another instead of trying to go big time. :(

[AppleGreen]

It is very sad, but deserved. All of the stores in my area have put there emphasis on toys and games. :( It is hard to find decent books there anymore. I miss bookstores that sell actual books.

 

Yep! My dh just said he no longer wants to take the kids to the bookstore (B&N) because it has become a toy store and we spend the whole time saying no to toys. The books are secondary.

 

Totally agree with the PP who asked why everyone wanted to become Wal-Mart, but isn't that the goal of Capitalism?

[Jenny in Florida]

My B&N educator card was more of a pain than it was worth. At most stores, you have to show proof of homeschooling, which is difficult in a state with low homeschool regulations. And then every time I used it, the clerk would eye me up and down and ask if I was really going to be using it in the classroom. For a lousy 20%, which still made the book more expensive than Amazon. .

 

Interesting. B&N is my favorite large bookstore. I had an educator card with them for many years and never had any trouble either obtaining one or using it.

 

Florida has next to no homeschool regulations. I got my first educator card by showing my copy of our letter of intent, I think, although it might have been a copy of my daughter's most recent evaluation form. Either way, it was something I always have on hand at home, anyway. I renewed a couple of times by just showing my home-made homeschool ID card.

 

I bought all kinds of things with the educator discount, but I was also always very careful to buy only things I could justify to myself as educational. In fact, on more than one occasion, I would have things separated out into different piles (one for school stuff, another for fun books), and clerks would insist on using the discount on everything.

 

For what it's worth, I hate Amazon. The idea that I can place one order that includes books and groceries and a pair of socks just makes me crazy. I also feel strongly that they have been a major force in running brick and mortar bookstores out of business. I never buy from Amazon if there is any other alternative. I'd rather pay a couple of bucks more to help support stores where I actually enjoy shopping.

[Jenny in Florida]

The children's section was unnavigable, being so hyper divided by age group and gender that it was tough to see what was there at all. I was struck by how few books were there. Not only were most of the books face out (better for marketing), but there was lots of open space on shelves. A large section was devoted to kids' games and activity kids (Playmobil, Lego, ThinkFun, etc) that was larger than the science fiction section..

 

The ridiculous divisions by narrow (and arbitrary) subjects is my biggest complaint about Borders. Honestly, if you were looking, say, for Harry Potter books in their children's section, you might have to check the shelves for "School Stories," "Fantasy" and "Series" before finding them somewhere else entirely.

 

I also noticed the last time I was in a Borders that the children's section is more toys and games than books. I have the same problem with Books-a-Million.

 

We stopped shopping at both chains several years ago.

 

I'm heading out to B&N this afternoon, though, to pick up three books I reserved online late last night. My daughter and I are planning to browse a while, too.

[angela in ohio]

Interesting. B&N is my favorite large bookstore. I had an educator card with them for many years and never had any trouble either obtaining one or using it.

 

Florida has next to no homeschool regulations. I got my first educator card by showing my copy of our letter of intent, I think, although it might have been a copy of my daughter's most recent evaluation form. Either way, it was something I always have on hand at home, anyway. I renewed a couple of times by just showing my home-made homeschool ID card.

 

I bought all kinds of things with the educator discount, but I was also always very careful to buy only things I could justify to myself as educational. In fact, on more than one occasion, I would have things separated out into different piles (one for school stuff, another for fun books), and clerks would insist on using the discount on everything.

 

We don't have any of that in Michigan. We have no paper trail at all, so no card anymore (I had a letter I could show when I lived in Ohio.) I would also divide out what was for school, but they still would grill me over children's reading books and workbooks. It wasn't worth the aggravation anymore. To be fair, though, my sil says they do the same thing to teachers. I get the feeling our local store hates the program. :glare:

 

We do still buy a lot at B&N (and Amazon, and BaM...) Ours is always busy, with many people buying books. The children's section is great; toys and games, but also classic books. They give store tours with educational topics and have a nice story time that I took my girls to for years.

[cathmom]

 

For what it's worth, I hate Amazon. The idea that I can place one order that includes books and groceries and a pair of socks just makes me crazy. I also feel strongly that they have been a major force in running brick and mortar bookstores out of business. I never buy from Amazon if there is any other alternative. I'd rather pay a couple of bucks more to help support stores where I actually enjoy shopping.

 

And I love Amazon, because I live in a rural place and like obscure things that Borders/B&N never had even when I did drive the 35+ minutes to get there. Same reason I love Netflix. These companies are wonderful for people who live in rural places!

[Lady Florida.]

And I love Amazon, because I live in a rural place and like obscure things that Borders/B&N never had even when I did drive the 35+ minutes to get there. Same reason I love Netflix. These companies are wonderful for people who live in rural places!

 

:iagree: I don't live in a rural area, but my mid-size city has terrible shopping choices. It always has, and was even worse before the big box stores came to town. We have a Super Wal-Mart and a regular Target. That's it. I have to drive 30-40 miles in either direction to get to any decent stores (other than grocery or drug stores). Amazon is a lifesaver and worth every penny of the Prime membership.

[Rosy]

I'm with whoever said (back on page 1 or 2) that I don't think the demise of Big Box Bookstores is such a tragedy. People are still reading via the internet, what's different is that anyone can self-publish online at basically no cost. In a sense, control over the written word is being taken away from corporate bookstores and publishers and given to the common people.

 

I think there will always be a demand for the sharing of ideas, but possibly not paper books someday. But I don't think of that as tragic--just a new reality to which we all will need to adjust.

[HejKatt]

Just bumping this thread with the announcement that Borders will close the remaining stores and liquidate:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303661904576455913644424424.html

[Imprimis]

Interesting. B&N is my favorite large bookstore. I had an educator card with them for many years and never had any trouble either obtaining one or using it.

 

Florida has next to no homeschool regulations. I got my first educator card by showing my copy of our letter of intent, I think, although it might have been a copy of my daughter's most recent evaluation form. Either way, it was something I always have on hand at home, anyway. I renewed a couple of times by just showing my home-made homeschool ID card.

 

I bought all kinds of things with the educator discount, but I was also always very careful to buy only things I could justify to myself as educational. In fact, on more than one occasion, I would have things separated out into different piles (one for school stuff, another for fun books), and clerks would insist on using the discount on everything.

 

For what it's worth, I hate Amazon. The idea that I can place one order that includes books and groceries and a pair of socks just makes me crazy. I also feel strongly that they have been a major force in running brick and mortar bookstores out of business. I never buy from Amazon if there is any other alternative. I'd rather pay a couple of bucks more to help support stores where I actually enjoy shopping.

 

As someone who is in Barnes & Noble at least once a week, (and often, more) I agree with this.

 

My kids and I appreciate having a brick and mortar bookstore to spend our time (and money) in. We love being able to pick up and leaf through books and magazines before we buy them.

 

While I realize it may be a bit less expensive to buy through Amazon, I gladly pay a bit more at Barnes & Noble.

 

I do have both the educator's and membership discount, but, the educator's card (which is free) offers more in terms of savings.

 

I have never had any problem using my educator's discount (even when buying Harry Potter Lego sets a couple of weeks ago). The new cards are 2 year "swipeable" cards that you swipe through the credit card machines when you make your purchase. Everything I buy (with the exception of magazines and DVDs/CDs) is 20% off. And, four weeks a year there is a 10% discount on DVDs/CDs along with 25% savings on everything else for educators.

 

I really hate the fact that we are losing actual bookstores to the internet and the e-book trade.

[Mommy22alyns]

It's just that I can go home and buy them on Amazon for 40% off what their list price is.

 

 

:iagree: I buy so many books, I have to go where they're cheapest. At Amazon, I can get it cheaper, don't have to pay tax (nearly 10%), and get it super quick. AND I don't have to drive 45 minutes one way.

 

I used to work at Borders and always preferred it over B&N.

[Happy]

One thing to consider...buying from a local brick and mortar store means sales tax dollars stay in your community...even if you are buying from a chain.

 

I benefit from buying from Amazon, but my community doesn't. For that reason, I've tried to shop locally...

[kitten18]

I didn't agree with the piece. Statistically, people *are* reading. To say that the printed word is gasping and dying is absurd to me. Printed on paper, maybe, but there's more content to read than ever - published "officially" and unofficially. That's a triumph for words and readers. Borders is dying because their business model, their service, and so forth are all failing up against online retailers and e-books, not because people are reading less.

 

I do mourn having that sort of browsing and sitting in the bookstore reading experience that I used to have. But Borders killed that more than a decade ago when they pulled out all the comfy chairs.

:iagree: I cannot tell you how crappy our local Border's store was.

[justamouse]

the sad part is that not only can you not find that happenstance incredible book, but the art of handselling books will be lost.

 

 

I love nothing more than walking into a bookstore, chatting up an owner and having them hand me a books and say," You have to read this one then." Or walking in and them saying, "We just got this in and I know you're going ot love it."