Borders is dying

[Fester]

I considered putting this in the cmemtery . . .

Looks like Borders, the Second largest bookstore chain is closing all its stores.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Borders-Calls-Off-Auction-nytimes-1678947798.html?x=0&.v=1

[general gruesome]

yahoo news is reporting some awful news. Borders (which is my all-time favorite book store) is official on closing all of there stores

Here's the article
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Borders-Calls-Off-Auction-nytimes-1678947798.html?x=0

[general gruesome]

haha Fester, it looks like we posted the same situation of Borders. I apologize, I didn't see that anyone had posted anything

[Wicked Lester]

Stupid Kindles. 
Really I think the prices of books AND mags have gotten too high. How many regular people are going to pay $30+ for a H.B or $9 for a P.B? It's crazy. I LOVE the look of a multi shelf library ,that's why I wait and do Ebay because like many others  I LIKE actually holding a book ,turning the pages looking at the art on the spines ,etc. And vintage books with that attic smell. OOOOHH! It's magic.
I understand the whole concept of a kindle but IMO going to a bookstore ,especially used bookstore and browsing the aisles is half the fun.
Ok,I got off track , you know what I mean.

[charp13]

I'm with you Wicked Lester! I look forward to going into the local Borders (16 miles away from my house), and buying my monster magazines once a month. I don't believe I will ever enjoy a Nook or a Kindle, etc. I feel very strongly about these e-books, but I keep my mouth shut around my peeps! Bleh.

[Fester]

haha Fester, it looks like we posted the same situation of Borders. I apologize, I didn't see that anyone had posted anything

Bet we hit the post key about the same time.  Remember what they say about great minds . . .

We'll call it a draw.

[CreepysFan]

   

  It's official now, if it isn't on a screen today's kids will not try to read it.  SHAMEFUL.

[CreepysFan]

   

  American's have become too lazy to drive to the bookstore.  I can almost just hear kids ten years from now :  "Books ?  What is that ? "   Excuse me, I'm going to go memorize all my Lovecraft books now.  Fahrenheit 451 has just become a reality. 

[monsterphile]

   

  American's have become too lazy to drive to the bookstore.   

I don't think that it's necessarily laziness.  I know for myslef, I can't afford a new hardback "reading" book (as opposed to a coffee table or photo-focused book) when they're around $30 or so.  Even the paperback books are costly.  For decades I have scored books (hardback and softcover) at yard sales and such for a fraction of their original cost.  I realize that my purchases do little for the authors and publishers, but that's my financial situation.

Rob

[Haunted hearse]

When I moved to Temecula, there was a wonderful place called "Little Professor Bookshop".  It had places to sit and read, good magazine selection, and you could order any book they didn't have.  Then the City of Temecula decided we had to have a regional Mall, and for the city it was a good thing, because the city made Money.  Too bad for businesses like the little professor Bookshop, which couldn't compete with Boarders and Barnes and Noble, because all the traffic wen't to the new mall.  Now there is lots of vacant retail space in the parts of Temecula around the new mall, and even at the mall it's self.  Sorry to see Boarders go, as I am that  Barnes and Noble can now do away with comfortable seating areas and other customer amenities since they no longer have to care about competition.  I've since moved to a small town in North Carolina, and I much perfer the smaller businesses that are here, to what I left behind in the would be big City of Temecula California.

[MDG]

... For decades I have scored books (hardback and softcover) at yard sales and such for a fraction of their original cost.

That's a big part of it, and local library sales, especially on the last day when you can fill a grocery bag for $3.  (Anyone ever go to the library sale in Ithaca? it's huge!)

But if I know what book (or CD, when I bought them) I want and don't need it that day (and have $25 worth of stuff to buy to get free shipping), I'd rather pay less at Amazon than drive to Borders or B&N. And often find they don't have what I wanted.

[The Drunken Severed Head]

My main source for SCARY MONSTERS, VIDEO WATCHDOG, HORROR HOUND and RUE MORGUE (and of course, books) is fading into history...

Rest in peace, Borders. Letting people read all day long for free was a boon to those of us who love to read, but perhaps it hastened your demise.

[Fester]

Stupid Kindles.
Really I think the prices of books AND mags have gotten too high. How many regular people are going to pay $30+ for a H.B or $9 for a P.B? It's crazy. I LOVE the look of a multi shelf library ,that's why I wait and do Ebay  . . .I understand the whole concept of a kindle but IMO going to a bookstore ,especially used bookstore and browsing the aisles is half the fun.

Kindles and ebooks are not really the problem here.  Buying books online at deep discounts is a major part of the problem. Amazon, eBay, Barnes and Noble online and the rest have done serious damage to the brick and mortar stores. A big factor in the failure of Borders and several other chains (remember B-Dalton?) involved a corporate model which failed to change with the times.  Haunted Hearse mentioned The Little Professor bookshops.  There used to be quite a few of them. Now there are less than a dozen.  Why? failed business model.  They were a franchise chain. That meant in addition to all the other costs of operating a bookstore you had to pay a licensing fee, comply with design requirements and buy your stock from the main warehouse--none of which are conducive to being a small "independent" bookstore.

After several months of looking around, last October, I bought a basic nook from Barnes and Noble.  I can guarantee that has not cut down on my book purchases. As my wife will attest, the sheer tonnage of actual books I have purchased has not declined noticeably. One bad habit I developed in gradual school was annotating--especially in my history and science books.  It is hard to do with an ebook. 

In many cases, the e-book prices are hovering around $10 bucks. The trade paperbacks are only a couple of dollars more.  For mass market paperbacks, there is really not that much difference between paper and ebook.  I prefer my nook for much of my reading out of the house.  It lays flat and you don't have to worry about holding it open if you are reading during your lunch break.  It also holds thousands of books.  I currently have 5 different books I am reading. (That is about the only multitasking I can do.)  So, I carry one book instead of five.  I also have several reference books.  Trivia question? I can look it up.  And I have a way to buy and download ebooks from my favorite Indie bookstore, Auntie's Books here in Spokanistan.

[Scatter]

I don't think that it's necessarily laziness.  I know for myslef, I can't afford a new hardback "reading" book (as opposed to a coffee table or photo-focused book) when they're around $30 or so.  Even the paperback books are costly.  For decades I have scored books (hardback and softcover) at yard sales and such for a fraction of their original cost.  I realize that my purchases do little for the authors and publishers, but that's my financial situation.

Rob

Ditto.

[Sean]

I love books.  They are a work of art themselves.  It's a pity what is happening.  I DO agree that they have gotten quite expensive, though.