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Borders to Declare Bankruptcy

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by YankeeFan, Feb 13, 2011.

  1. BrianGriffin

    BrianGriffin Active Member

    What sucks in my town is what others have expressed here. The local Borders is the anchor of a snazzy outdoor area of the new, trendy mall. It opened right before the economy hit the skids in 2008 (and a BN, our second one, opened down the street in a new high-end shopping center around the same time). So now, I'm assuming we'll get to have a big empty building sitting in this fancy new outdoor wing of the mall.

    It's bad enough that the small storefronts between the Borders and the entrance to the main mall remain only about 60 percent occupied because, like I said, the project was finished just in time for everything to go south economically.

    At least it's only a one-story building, so it will probably translate better to a restaurant or something like that than it would if it was two stories with an escalator in the middle.

    What's also weird is, with its closing, there will be no book store in this particular mall. It used to be, every mall had a Walden's or a B. Dalton. Then Borders replaced them with bigger, nicer stores. Now we'll have nothing.

    Like others said, there are other ways to get your books, but I for one will miss bookstores. It's a childhood thing. When I was a kid, when we'd all go to the mall, I'd always walk around until I found Walden's and I was content for the rest of the trip. It got to the point where, when we'd go our separate ways, the bench in front of Walden's was usually our rally point because at least two of us would end up there, browsing.
     
  2. BrianGriffin

    BrianGriffin Active Member

    I don't think that's a weakness. That's why they went with comfy chairs and cafes, for browsers. I bet accommodating those who went in without the intention to buy, but to browse, actually increased sales significantly through sales of overpriced coffees, overpriced pre-packaged bagels and pastries and books that people buy because they had the time to read enough of the book to get "hooked" and want to buy it. If they don't allow the customer to sit with the book for a while, there's a good chance that buyer does not buy.

    Even in this day and age, I bet they get sales that way. I know I get tempted. I'll start reading something, decide I want to read the whole thing, and I'll buy it instead of going home, ordering and waiting two days on Amazon or BN.com to deliver.
     
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I agree. The one on 12th street and Broadway is an institution, and won't go out without a fight. But I am not sure it is totally immune. The Strnad had that other location down on Fulton Street for years and it closed about 2 years ago.
     
  4. Big Circus

    Big Circus Well-Known Member

    Anyone know what's going to happen with gift cards? My wife got one for her birthday last week. I actually noticed it Sunday morning and made the comment that I was pretty sure they were about to go bankrupt. Was out all day, came back, got online and saw this thread.

    Yes, I'm dispensing gambling advice and stock tips. Just drop me a PM.
     
  5. Count me and the mrs. as two more in the bookstore as destination crowd. Both of us count spend hours browsing. We look forward to getting gift cards every Christmas. There's no Borders anywhere near us, but we love B&N. Then again, we're old.
    But after moving tons of heavy boxes filled with books and not having the floor to ceiling built-in bookcases in our new house, we're considering joining the new century soon and getting a Nook/Kindle.
     
  6. BrianGriffin

    BrianGriffin Active Member

    I do it all the time too. I think the attitude is, if somebody's going to take the time to do that, the chances are pretty good that they'll buy a cup of coffee, a bagel or maybe even a sandwich and the book becomes a prop that produces a sale for them.

    I think the way they look at it is with 10 browsers who are there for a certain period of time, you'll have three who buy books, out of which two also buy something at the cafe. Of the seven who don't buy a book, four will buy something at a cafe to help pass the hour-two they are there (I'm making up the stats, but I would bet they are at least close). So now you've made a sale to 7 out of 10 and you can live with the 30 percent who spend significant time in your store, but don't buy anything. By percentages, you are doing better than, say, Dillards which probably has higher percentage of people who walk in and out without buying anything.

    It's why Waldenbooks disappeared WAY before Borders. I remember how awkward it was to try to read in a Waldenbooks. No chairs and the aisles were so narrow that if a worker came to put a book on the shelf, you'd have to move out of her way.
     
  7. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    The plan is to close around 200 of their 600 or so stores. The website will still be up. So, I imagine you'll have no problem using your gift card.
     
  8. expendable

    expendable Well-Known Member

    It's karma for putting The Shop Around the Corner out of business.
     
  9. I Should Coco

    I Should Coco Well-Known Member

    Just like when Blockbuster video was talking bankruptcy, it's hard to work up much sympathy for a corporate entity that undercut local mom-and-pop bookstores years ago and, now, is being undercut by better prices online.

    There still are a few independent bookstores out there, and I try to support them when I (infrequently) visit. Even if it costs a few dollars more.
     
  10. holy bull

    holy bull Active Member

    Too late, I'm already out of town. My soul was lost when I considered a big box over the Strand in the first place.

    A visit to the Lyrical Ballad should have a cleansing effect, though. To anyone visiting Saratoga Springs, NY, in the near future, I strongly recommend it.
     
  11. billikens

    billikens Member

    I think Barnes and Noble is in a better place than Borders because it at least acknowledged that the tablet reader was the next logical way to make money. B&N found some traction with their Nook reader last year and it did huge sales during the holiday season. That, coupled with less competition from traditional book stores, should keep B&N pretty solid for a while.

    Part of the reason Borders is in this situation is that when the market started changing, it did nothing to innovate.
     
  12. Hank_Scorpio

    Hank_Scorpio Active Member

    But Borders doesn't own the coffee shops, so whatever those browsers buy there doesn't end up in Borders pocket.


    Also, Borders bought Waldenbooks. Turned most of them into Borders Express stores.
     
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