Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

The big Borders in SOMA closed last year (and I think one of those godawful Academy of Art thingies is taking over the space, God help us all…), so I now walk to the one in Union Square (refuse to set foot in that mall place on Market St.—if I wanted to shop in malls, I’d live in the ‘burbs). Same difference walking-wise, although I don’t like the touristy sidewalk traffic around Union Square. San Francisco has plenty of smaller bookstores, although they all seem to focus on uber-liberal political stuff, art/design books and/or noir-homage novels. There’s a mystery bookstore in Noe Valley, and another in San Mateo. There’s a big B&N in North Beach, but the manager is a creepy, creepy guy and latches on to any remotely attractive female who walks in and won’t leave them alone, so I avoid it like the plague. Library system is good—main library is open 7 days a week, although local branch hours differ and some are so small they’re really just free internet access and bathroom access for the homeless people (which means you really don’t want to go inside and sit on anything or touch anything anyway).

Interestingly enough, while brick-and-mortar shops seem to be on the decline, I find myself downloading fewer and fewer books to my Kindle. I have fallen decidedly out of love with my Kindle and reserve it for flying these days.

So, as much as I loathe Amazon, looks like they win…~sigh~

The closest Borders to me is in a very large shopping center.  If it closes, there are at least three locally owned stores and one chain off-shoot.  I can’t foresee the corporation closing one with such a large retail space footprint that’s always packed no matter the hour.  The one up the freeway, about 15 miles north, is much smaller and is sadly the only bookstore I know of that serves that town.  The only other places to buy books would be Walmart or Target if that Borders closes.  The local library is tiny.  People from that town would either have to drive south in extremely heavy traffic to the big Borders or 20 miles north in moderately heavy traffic to the nearest B&N.  Or just order from Amazon.

I live in a very small mountain town that, luckily, does have a bookstore. But, like the town, it’s small. It’s also a drugstore and a gift shop and they don’t have any romance section at all. The nearest Borders is about 100 miles away, and I used to go there every time I went to the “big city” but a few years ago it gave up its freestanding location and moved into the mall and I HATE the mall, and I hate the mall parking lot even more, so I switched my loyalty to B&N which still has a stand-alone building and an easy to enter/exit parking lot. But in all the ways you’ve pointed out, B&N is really just not that much about books anymore. What lures me into a bookstore is a large selection and comfortable places to sit and browse the books I’m considering. My disposable income is limited, so I want a chance to read a chapter or two before I commit to buying a book. Going to a bookstore is a treat for me, a luxury in both time and money and I like it to feel that way.

Oh…what can a bookstore do to lure me in going forward? Sell books, damn it. Enough with the coffee and comfy chairs and toys and racks and racks of journals and calendars and gifty crap. Enough with the Silly Bandz and stuffed animals and junk. You’re a bookseller? Sell books. If you have FOUR floors in a prime location and I STILL have to order a current release from you and wait for it to come into the store, you’re stocking the wrong stuff, ya know? And why would I walk to the store and order through you when I can order from home via Amazon and for cheaper?

Sell books. Stop being pretentious. Stop following trends. If books are on a bestseller list, there’s a reason—they’re selling faster than the other stuff. Would make good sense to stock it, eh?  If you’d rather use your floor space to push your big social/political agenda, fine, but don’t complain when you go out of business.

I admit I do some of my book shopping online, although, as I’m a librarian, my bookshopping has gone waaaaay down.  I also read a fair amount of fanfic, which is free online.  \o/.  Anyway, I have an almost ideal situation as far as bookstores are concerned, which I do take advantage of.  I’m a BIG SF/F reader, and I live almost equidistant between Uncle Hugos and Dreamhaven, two fabulous specialty (you guessed it) SF/F bookstores, both practically within walking distance. 

Frankly, they don’t have to do much to lure me in.  It’s great having stores near me who almost certainly have whatever I want in stock, no matter how obscure, between their new and the used inventory.  It’s an amazing convenience and privilege, and one of the real benefits of where I live.  And there’s nothing like walking into an entire store filled with what I like to read.  And having two of them.  Close.  Can you say dangerous?

What a great question. I’ve never really thought about it, oddly enough. (Long post ahoy! Might want some coffee for this.)

We have an indi bookstore that’s well-known here in town. I don’t like going there- it’s cramped, the staff are nice enough but aloof, the selection is tiny and there’s no parking. I get no added value for shopping there- just parking hassles and slightly more expensive pricing.

One thing I think that local booksellers could do better would be to incorporate technology.

Placing a computer somewhere is a good start- but what of the browsing? Creating a kiosk that had an employee’s choice list (graphic rep of the book would be best). Take a SmartBoard and use that- something to connect the ebook choice in with the paper books.
Even a sticker on the back of the book to identify that the ebook version is available at the counter.

Beyond ebooks- why not integrate online streams like Ustream to have book discussions, signings, speakers etc and grow the brand?

Have an online book club that connects directly for your customers. Order this book- free book discussion in two weeks on MyBookStoreReadingGroup.com. Save time- print it right on the receipt so they have a reminder- or even integrate the mailing list (email) and send them an invite. 

Even small things can add up. Offer free desktop wallpaper on your store’s website. Keep the brand in front of your customers. Go crazy and make a free ‘app’ that puts pictures of their family and friends in a cooky book-related situation. (Helloooo clutch covers!) AND use that app as a promo for an author’s latest book. Imagine it- new romance novel is coming out in two weeks- so put you and your SO’s pic in place of the couple on the cover. Make it fun and they will remember it. Offer a pre-order screen at the end of the app; cash in on the exposure without being obnoxious.

Offer free ‘Author Chats’ online- we do it here on SBTB so why not use that model as a value-add for a brick n mortar store? I’d LOVE to be able to chat with an author instead of sit in a room with a hundred other people, drive through traffic, find a sitter, figure out when dinner will have to be, and clear out a big chunk of time. Instead- I sit home, everyone eats and I am free to participate as I am able. To help the ‘after talk’ sales- roll a banner of related books that with one click are added to a shopping cart without disrupting the flow of the online chat.

Basically- give some value-added goodies to show that your customers *should* be coming to you beyond the vague ‘we’re local so pick us’.

The nearest bookstore is a Half-Price Books, just around the corner.  While I Iurve a good book at half-price, you can’t count on their selection from day-to-day since it depends on what people sell them.  For new books, it’s Target or Amazon for me, really.  The nearest Borders is a half hour (minimum) away through the worst traffic in town.  The nearest Barnes and Noble isn’t a whole lot better.  There is a ginormous B&N with a rockin’ romance section that’s isn’t close enough to just drop in, but it’s near other shopping that I like so it’s a day-of-shopping destination.

Really, all I ask of a bookstore is to have a good selection, and that means not just the top new releases but less prominent authors and backlists.

We had a Borders outlet that went in to an open mall (boardwalk) in our area, but it closed soon afterwards. I loved it because all the books were discounted.

The closest we have is Barnes and Noble and it still does a good business. Had a booksigning there on Saturday and things were hopping pre-Valentines which made me happy.

The closest bookstore to me is an independent bookseller and they carry very little romance - a few Nora Roberts and Sophie Kinsella books. They are so very, very unfriendly that I rarely venture in. I want to like them because they are a small business and, heck, they sell BOOKS, but I just don’t.

I’ve been puchasing more on my kindle, but I think I’d be more apt to buy at brick and mortars if there were experienced salespersons to answer questions and make recommendations.

They closed their UK stores a while ago and as there was one less than a mile from my workplace, I miss it horribly.  It was about the only chain bookshop that had a decent romance selection.  I did begrudge having to pay £8.99 for paperbacks with US $6.99 price stickers on them, but at least it gave you the chance to browse and see if you liked the book before buying.

We have WH Smiths and Waterstones as the main two chain bookshops here but you’re extremely lucky if you can find anything by authors other than Nora Roberts (who I like) and Stephanie Laurens (who I don’t) in there.  The libraries and supermarkets seem to almost exclusively stock crappy historicals and the really atrocious “Sheik’s Gypsy Pregnant Secret Bride” style of Mills & Boon books.  I mainly pick them up from charity shops (not easy for contemporaries) or buy things from Amazon marketplace sellers and take the gamble that I’ll like the book.  Thank god for sites like this or I’d waste a lot more money than I do now!

My closest bookstore actually is a Borders - the one in downtown Silver Spring, MD - about a 10 minute walk from my home. The next closest after that would be Kramer Books and Afterwords in DuPont Circle (a half hour bus ride) (the economy has not been kind to bookstores in the metro DC area). I’m sad to say I don’t often shop at bookstores. I’m broke right now and relying heavily on PaperbackSwap and Amazon (my partner has a prime membership because she’s a student). I’d really like to have a local store to support, but high rents and low demands have really driven a lot of independent sellers out of the area.

I live in rural Wisconsin, so my closest Barnes and Noble is 30 minutes away and the closest Borders is 40 minutes away.

I do go to both of them on occasion, but I’m more likely to pick up books at Wal-Mart or Target as they are only 15 minutes away and one of those will usually carry the books I am looking for. If they don’t, I’ll make the trip to B&N or Borders.  Living in a rural area, I’m used to driving to get to things :)

Honestly, I wish I had more indie bookstores nearby. There was a great used bookstore that specialized in romances that I LOVED, but went out of business a year ago.

My nearest Borders closed down a year ago i used to love going there to buy my books and a starbucks coffee. There are 2 other bookshops near to where i live,WHSmith and The Works.

WHSmith has far too small a selection of books and i find it hard to find any new releases from the genre i enjoy and The Works sells dicounted books but mainly toys, arts and cradts
I have found myself buying more and more with the Book Depository and Amazon plus kindle books for my phone when i desperatley need to read the next new book in a series i love.
My local library is great and my children love it but again i find it difficult to find anything that i enjoy or up to date.

There are Borders everywhere out here (NoCal) Back in the day (2006 ish) every Thursday and Friday night, I would go to EVERY book store in the area on massive book hunts. Where I’m sitting right now, there is a book store about 5 miles from here. I always liked Borders more than B&N. But then I bought so many books that it was hard for me to find new books in a physical store. I would go on Amazon, right down some recommendations and then go to the book store. But then the county sales tax went up to 9.75%. And Borders does not discount hardback books. So that’s when I found myself on Amazon. I almost never go to bookstores anymore. I buy mostly from Amazon and Better World.

I do miss the smell of bookstores. But when I buy new books,  I fan the pages in my front of my face so I can still get a sniff of those freshly printed pages…oh, am I the only person who does that?

My nearest bookstore is at the Mall. We don’t have Borders in Canada. By big chain bookstore is Chapters. I do shop there, but I often use their online service as well. The prices on hardcovers are much lower online. But your basic mass market paperback is the same price in store or online, so I buy those in store. They do have toys and gifts and journals, etc., but the main focus is still books, thank goodness.

I live a bit north of San Francisco where traffic north and south is usually pretty awful. It’s a tremendous disincentive to travel outside my community.  The nearest Waldenbooks closed a couple of years ago, and there’s a Borders and a B&N north of me—through horrendous traffic. I never go there.  Luckily, my town has an outstanding independent bookstore. They have lots of books, though they also sell non-book items, and have for quite some time. They bring big name authors to the store and their events are often SRO.

About 5 years ago now, they started selling romance—on two shelves. Points to them for trying, but really.  But now Romance has expanded to an entire bookshelf, though they need to be educated in what books to order. I now shop even more at my local independent.

As a kid I remember going to the original Borders shop on State Street in Ann Arbor with my parents (bit U of M alum)—it was a HUGE treat to go, and I always got to pick out one book for myself.

So I remember Borders when it was basically an indie bookstore with an amazing selection of esoteric titles plus popular fiction and staff who KNEW books, I swear you could give them the vaguest outline of a book and someone there would be able to figure out what you wanted. I’ve watched it change into the big box store it is today and it just isn’t the same.

That being said I haven’t shopped at a Borders in ages. I have a Kindle but I also use the library a ton (local branch is AWESOME even with reduced hours) and we have a good used book store near our house. I don’t feel the need to drive farther and hassle with mall parking only to run the gauntlet of displays of crap that are NOT books before I can get my hot little hands on something I want to read. Add to that staff who don’t know the product, are ambivalent about customer service and higher prices…not worth my time and effort honestly.

Still, this news today makes me sad because I remember when “going to Borders” was a big deal!

I work at a BN and I also mourn the loss of Borders, big box store or not they were part of the community of bookselling.  I think what most bookstores and what I love of indie bookstores is their knowledge and passing that on to the customer.  I’m an oldschool bookseller (have been with BN since I was 16 and I’m about to turn 32) and I passed on management and remained PT because I loved that element of bookselling when its about you and the customer. 

Sadly, in this world of instant gratification takes too long, customers don’t want the face time, they just want their book or game (knock it in the BN stores if you want, but parents are diving on it with glee, especially since we carry educational reading games in addition to board games) and then they want to get out.  I have some hard core book fans who love to dig deep into the stacks and pull out new and old titles and go back and forth about which are best, but the economic downturn has forced the bottom line to take the place of customer service, and I think that’s probably the saddest thing of all.

(I’ve blogged about the state of my local Borders here, here, here,
and here.)

The local independent bookseller - David-Kidd - closed before Christmas. The reason given was not that it wasn’t making money - it was - just that it wasn’t making enough money. It had long since started emulating the chain bookstores and stocked more Vera Bradley, tchotchkes, and chocolate than actual books.

The local Borders is right next to Vanderbilt University and Medical Center. Over the last year or two it has noticibly stopped stocking books. It consolidated bookshelves - the romance section went from 2.5 rows of 4 cases each packed tight with book and overstock above to 1 row of 4 cases with empty spots and no overstock. I don’t know if it will close or not. I hope it doesn’t, as the closest Barnes and Noble and other Borders store, while not far mile-wise, are not even located in Nashville proper.

I used to shop at Davis-Kidd until it stopped carrying much romance (and much else) and closed. I have tried to shop at Borders, but more often than not I can’t even find a new release in stock. They have plenty of Twilight, but I have that already. You know it’s bad when even the Nora Roberts collection doesn’t even take up a whole shelf. I’ve about given up going there even though it is in walking distance from work and home.

I would happily give my money to support a local bookstore - chain, indie, whatever - if they would STOCK BOOKS. That’s all I ask. I would love to have a location where I could browse books and purchase. I’m a heavy user of my public library too, but sometimes I want to own the book, and I’m willing to give up my money for that honor. If I can find the book in a store. Usually I just give my money to Amazon because Borders doesn’t want to sell me anything in the way of books these days.

It’s sad that I’m willing to throw money at booksellers but none of them seem to want to do what it takes (stock books, ideally a variety) to earn it.

Apologies for my rant. This just really bothers me.

The closest two bookstores to where I live are wonderful little used bookstores. I may or may not stop in at least once a week. =D And then about half-hour away are a Barnes and Noble and a Books-a-Million. I’ll wander in to check their sale books on occasion, but with the used bookstores, Paperbackswap, and Amazon, I tend to refuse to pay full price anymore…

We had a Waldenbooks in our mall, but it closed last year. According to the BORDERS website they no longer have a store in our state (Alabama). I either have to drive forty-five minutes (Books A Million), one hour to B&N, or order online. I miss our bookstore. I miss walking down the aisle, being surrounded by all the books.

We have both a Borders and Barnes & Noble about 15 minutes from me. I don’t get to visit often because my husband is away during the week and dragging my three children (ages 5 and under) anywhere can be a challenge. Which leads to my favorite reason for visiting a bookstore - I love to head to a bookstore when my husband says those wonderful words, “Honey, why don’t you get out of the house by yourself for a little bit.” It doesn’t happen often, but when it does I make a beeline for one of the bookstores. I love to grab some coffee and a book to read in quiet. The smell of books is what draws me in. That, and the opportunity to be around people who don’t need me to help them blow their noses.

Truthfully, though, I spend more money when I’m able to shop online. I like being able to get more information about a book than just what the brief summary provides. Plus, I’m a person who likes to read books in order. Often, the stores only stock the “latest” in a romance series and I get twitchy just thinking about reading Book 3 before Book 1. And Amazon’s 4-for-3 deal is appealing because I can go through that many books in a week if my children cooperate and sleep at night. There are no unlimited funds here, so I’m on the lookout for deals and borrow frequently from the library.

As for the toys - what bothered me most is what B&N had the audacity to charge for what I looked at. The mark-up was disturbing as it pains me to see people overpay for anything. It was clear to me that, at least at my store, the toys aren’t moving and are taking up floor space. And leading me back to my original reason for heading to the bookstore - I go there to get a breather from the responsibilities of parenthood, so bombarding me with toys the moment I walk through the door, cheapens the experience for me.

The nearest big chain store to me is about 300 km away. Safe to say, I don’t go there very often. There’s an independent bookstore and a used book store a few blocks from me, though. Their romance section is small, but some thought obviously goes into the picks, so it’s not too bad. That does mean that I’m limited by whatever the buyer for the store likes, and they like Scottish romances and Vikings. I didn’t know they still published Viking romances!

For me, the biggest thing brick and mortar book stores have over online ones is the ability to browse easily and flip through books. I’m much more likely to just pick up something that looks interesting and buy it at a physical store than an online one. I think a good seller can cater to that by moving beyond just selling bestsellers and by putting some effort into finding good books their customers might not have heard of. I’m remembering a store I visited in a very small town where the owner had filled the store with a variety of weird, wonderful, fascinating books I’d never heard of. It definitely added value for me.

A Borders is closest to me, but frankly I only go when the send me a coupon—I’d rather go to the Half-Price Books down the road for used books or order from Amazon because they have better deals.

I mostly visit bookstores to browse around; I like seeing what catches my eye, especially in genres and by authors I don’t normally read. I actually have no idea what the closest bookstore to my house is. If there is a specific book I want (either print or ebook), I order it online—it’s more convenient and cheaper, especially since I save up a few titles to get free shipping. The closest bookstore to my office is in a mall and part of a big chain (Indigo/Coles/Smithbooks) but it’s little more than an alcove, with terrible selection. It’s pointless to go there. There is a lovely, huge Indigo near a movie theatre I go to, though, and that’s where I do most of my print-book browsing.

In Northern Kentucky, where I live, we have a Borders, a Barnes and Noble, a Half-Priced Books and a local used bookstore chain, the Book Rack, all within a 15 minute drive from my house.  And fortunately, our county library system seems adequately funded.  I prefer Borders to BN, mostly because of the coupons I get in email regularly.  And I am TOTALLY going to be bummed if our store closes soon, because JR Ward is supposed to do a signing for her next BDB release there in April! 
I use a Kindle App on my Blackberry, and just ordered a real Kindle, so I do buy alot of books on Amazon, but I love paper books, too, so I would say my book “budget”  (budget?  ha!) goes about half and half between paper and e-books.

Hmm, the nearest bookstore to me is a B&N, approx 2 miles away.  I have not been in it in over 2 years.  Why? Because last time I was there I was thoroughly turned off by how crappy the store looked and the pathetic selections and the really bad service. 
The closest Borders is about 5-6 miles away and I love it! Of course it helps that I know all the managers (indeed, as a former Waldenbooks employee, I worked with most of them at one time!).  They are doing their best under the circumstances—always friendly, always good service.  If this store closes (which I kinda doubt, as it has been consistently profitable), I will fall back on Amazon.  Which is really too bad.  Amazon is great if you already know you want the book.  But you can’t browse!  And I have saved oodles of $$$$ over the years by being able to actually flip through a book that sounded interesting and then finding it wasn’t to my taste.
Alas, there are no local new bookstores in the area.  If you don’t want Borders or B&N, then you are left with Target, Wal-Mart, and the grocery stores.
There is one (rather pathetic)used bookstore locally.  The best used bookstore is 10+ miles down the highway.

I have both a Borders and B&N four miles away.  Through the years, Borders has far-and-away been the better of the two stores, largely because, for me, it actually put a lot of erotic fiction on its shelves.  I’m certain my store will be among those destined to close because its foot traffic has fallen off dramatically over the last several years, a sad outcome for a place that was a “destination” when it first opened, always crowded with activity like live music, reading groups, table game nights.

When mine closes, I’ll continue to buy e-books from Borders and I’ll make periodic visits to a busy Borders about 1/2 west of me. I’ll make most of my hardcopy book purchases, however, through a large NYC indie that often has better price points than Amazon.

Regardless, I’ll miss the Borders of old.

The nearest to me is about thirty miles away and there is at least one independent and several B&N’s around that fill the gap. Though I have been slightly unhappy with B&N lately with how they have redone their stores. I agree that there seems to be more focus on toys, games, and gifts that really don’t have anything to do with reading. Book sections have been moved to accomodate this and it makes it harder to find what you or looking for or explore new reading options.

Liz Talley touches on a good point —independent booksellers HAVE to be enthusiastic, friendly people. There is no bigger turnoff than to walk into a small bookstore and be given the cold shoulder by disinterested, unfriendly owners. Why did these people ever choose this career path? It’s not just booksellers, but any small business owner—if you don’t love what you do and communicate that passion to potential customers, forget about it.  Because we all CAN order much cheaper from Amazon, ya know?

I live in a suburb just north of Indianapolis - there is a B&N about 1 mile from my house (my bookclub has met in their cafe for the past 11+ years).  Within 20 minutes of my house there are two Half Price Books, 2 Borders, 2 B&N and a Books-A-Million.  The only small indie bookstore I know of was a tiny Mystery bookstore the was around for about 5 years before shutting doors.  I don’t buy books - too $$ - I use the library - but if I was going to buy books, I’d probably buy at Target or Wal-Mart where they are cheaper.  If there is a book I want to own and I can’t get at a store, I’ll opt for Amazon because they have books that B&N doesn’t even list on their website.

I live right around the corner from a independent bookstore that will order any book for me if they don’t have it. However, they carry no romance books, and they have no plans to carry any. The closest Borders is an eight block walk along oak lined streets. It’s a new store in a restored grand house. We go there for kids’ books and romances that I don’t buy as e-books. The store is on a streetcar line here in New Orleans and has a lot of visibility.

I have a Borders about 5 blocks from my house, which is probably one that will close.  The stock has been dwindling for a while and I noticed recently that they weren’t getting in a lot of new releases - probably because they couldn’t pay the publishers!  That leaves one independent general/used bookstore in the same area but they stock very little romance or SF/F and no new releases in those sections just used titles.  That leaves a large and still well run Borders (much more likely to be one that survives if the company does) and a B&N about 20-30 minutes away if I have the time to get there and feel like driving that far.  I have seen so many independent and chain outlets close in the last 10 years, it is very sad.

I live in a Houston suburb and there is a Borders and a B&N that are both about 5 miles from my house.  My business is probably split between the two and Amazon about equally.  I do think that the staff at Borders are friendly and better informed and helpful when I need assistance so I hate to see them go if this is one of the stores to close.  But if they must go I would love to see a Half Price Books take over their space.  The closest one to me is about a half hour away and I love a giant used book store.  Half Price often has 50 cent paperbacks and many are romance.  It is so fun to dig there.

I am feeling really luck after reading all these posts about the distance to the nearest bookshop. Portland loves books so there are lots of independents. I live less than 2 miles from Powells, a huge independent bookstore with three locations in different sections of Portland. The largest downtown takes up an entire city block. In addition to their locations, since they are a huge online retailer they have several large warehouses in Portland. You can jump online and order books that are in the warehouse and pick them up at any Powells location in a day or two with no shipping.

I also shop at a Book Exchange in my neighborhood. Basically you trade books at 2 for 1, with a 50 cent service charge per book bought. It is largely romance, and they get new releases within a week of publishing, though not many so you have to keep your eyes peeled.

Barnes and Noble and Borders both have a presence in the city too, but most Borders are too far for me to bother. I don’t like taking my kids to them for the same reason someone else mentioned; it involves dragging them past rows of toys to get to the kid section. After that no one is having fun picking out books.

My nearest store is a B&N, five minutes or so from the house. Maybe 10. I’ve always preferred Borders, even when I had to haul from Pittsburgh’s Eastern suburbs to its Southern ones. (It involved a tunnel. In Pittsburgh, that’s akin to going to Siberia.)

Like you, though, if I’m going to buy new, I tend to head out to my indie—in this case, Mystery Lover’s Bookshop. They take good care of me, even though I rarely buy a mystery from them. Which in and of itself might be a mystery right there…

The list I saw had that South Hills Borders closing, but not the one I was in on Sunday. Cashing in those gift cards, just in case… Glad it wasn’t 100% necessary.

Interesting that you criticize BN’s emphasis on toys, etc., when I’ve always found Borders to be far worse in that regard. I walk into the Borders that’s two doors down from my office (also the Silver Spring location; hi, Christina!) and am greeted with cards and calendars and lots of non-books in the center of the store. Books are on the edges. The BN I go to has some tables with games sort of scattered around. I’ve always felt the emphasis in BN is books; I don’t feel that way about Borders.

We had Borders in UK, but the chain closed couple of years ago, and as someone mentioned we have WHSmith and Watersones. Now, I’ve worked in WHSmith, and I can never find anything I like there, their shelves are haphazard and the mix up in off books from the series without the whole series were doing my heading. Waterstones on the other hand is very good. I shop there sometimes, but mostly its BookDepository now - the choice is great and the delivery is free which is awesome, plus they accept Paypal. So Amazon to me can’t compete, and I stopped using it. And indie stores again don’t stock the books I like really…

There are no Borders bookstores where I live. The closest one I know of is 2 hours away. We have a Books a Million in our town and a Barnes & Nobles in another small town about 20 minutes away. We also have several college books stores which are great for non-fiction but they carry very little fiction. The only independent bookstore I know of caters to the college crowd (this is a college town). When I went looking there for local journals and reviews they were not stocked so I had to order them. Kind of puzzling.

I buy most of my books online at Amazon, Barnes & Nobles and from Paperbackswap.

I go for the books, the comfy chairs, and a lovely cocoa trio or raspberry mocha.  I also spend a lot of time at the library.  If the library would sell me a cocoa trio, I’d prob never go to borders again - but if Borders takes away my comfy chair, I won’t hang out there anymore either.  I agree that they need more books and no extraneous stuff - but don’t take away my comfy chair!

drive36 - 36 miles to the nearest bookstore is way too far to drive.

We have 4 Borders’ stores and 2 Borders’ Expresses on Oahu in both tourist and residental areas.

We have 2 B/N (split between tourist and residential), 2 Walmarts, 1 Target, and 4 military exchanges who discount books 25% plus no tax.

My nearest bookshop is in a mall and it’s a measly excuse for recycling paper. It gives me the creeps to be honest. I study in Zurich (Yes, Switzerland) which is about an hour from where I live and when I visit a bookstore it’s one from Orell Füssli, the biggest book store chain here. A) They have an entire store (3 floors) of English books in Zurich - I prefer to read books in the language they’re written in and let’s face it, the selection is just a little bit bigger;) B) because they’re awesome. C) student discounts/point card. They also have good service and can give you advice on what to read as opposed to the local bookstore.

Damnit.  There goes my only bookstore.  Now I have to drive 20 minutes away to get something or pay shipping and handling or WAIT.  Bleh.

As a teacher this sucks.  Having a Boarders right by me (it sucked yes, never had anything I wanted in my personal collection) was great for getting extra copies of novels for my students and informational books for me.

Bleh I say!

I’m a former Borders employee.  I didn’t lose my job due to the closings, I lost it because I needed knee surgery.  Or, really, I had the audacity to need time to recover from the surgery that didn’t involve standing for hours at a time.  So they never gave me my hours back when I was cleared to return. 

I’m not even going to try to claim that I’m not bitter, because I’m still ripshit over it. 

As a result, I will, upon occasion go into my old store and visit (I adored the majority of my co-workers), but I don’t shop there anymore.  For one thing, I got the job to pay for my book habit.  The last time I shopped at Borders, I got $10 in Borders Bucks as a “please come back” gambit, and I spent less than a dollar over the Borders Bucks.  (My Old store is not on the list of closures, which is good- it’s the Boston flagship store in downtown and the B&N down the street closed about 4 years ago.  There would be a significant void.)

And, I can tell you that the managerial missteps of the company were pretty awful- this didn’t just happen, this was a very long time in coming.  It sucks, because the people who are going to pay for this mistake- the ground level employees and the customers- aren’t the ones who made them.  We hear about the bonuses the execs get, and it’s disgusting that they’re getting a windfall while the bills aren’t getting paid. 

Yeah.  Totally bitter.

I know what you mean about the toys at B&N. Borders isn’t much better in that regard—I’ve been roped into buying Legos there as well—at least the last time I was there they had a coupon in the store for a toy purchase.
The closest bookstore to my house is a large independent which I would rate as excellent if you’re looking for anything other than genre fiction. They’ll stock some YA paranormal romance but that’s about it.  I mostly buy books for gifts there—usually literary fiction and cookbooks. But I miss the Borders that used to be across the street from the indie bookstore. It’s been gone for six years or so. In fact, for a while there was another little bookstore next to the Borders that sold new agey books where I’d always find great gifts. Three bookstores on one block! Sigh, those were the days.

We were able to enjoy Borders for only a few years in the UK.  There was an excellent large branch in Oxford Street, in London’s West End, and I really miss it.  The W.H.Smith chain,  which sells newspapers, stationery, CDs/DVDs and all sorts of stuff and is found in most British high streets, is pretty useless for books, and Waterstones, though theoretically a bookshop chain, leaves much to be desired as well.

And now our splendid public libraries, which have educated and entertained British children and adults for generations, are under serious threat because of the severe cuts that the coalition government is imposing on local authority funding.  Gloom and despondency all round.
:-(

Thanks for the update. I was actually able to give my coworker the bad news that her husband’s Borders store is closing. Not a huge surprise that updating the WSJ was more important than updating their store managers.

I’ve been a Barnes & Noble customer for as long as I can remember, primarily due to ease of access. But within the last two years they’ve closed the two most convenient locations for me in NYC which led to a significant drop off in my purchases and led me to shift to primarily library books (well, until the NYPL was forced to cut back on hours so that there is only 1 day a week I can actually get there). I got a nook to basically compensate for the inaccessibility of the stores now. It’s a strange chicken/egg conundrum.

Given the decline of the big box bookstores, I’m really going to focus on finding a good indie bookstore. While buying online from bn.com is convenient (especially given the frequent same-day delivery in Manhattan and my membership discount), I really miss the tangible experience of shopping for books. Especially since so many books and backlist titles are not available as ebooks.

@Carrie S.

I guess the comfy chair thing depends on who’s using them. We have a very large transient population and they take over. They take over everything in San Francisco. They take over the parks, the sidewalks, the bus stops, the libraries, the outdoor tables and chairs at Starbucks, etc.

I try to be kind, but at some point you realize this so-freaking-open-minded-my-brain-fell-out-ages-ago attitude around here just does not work. Borders declares bankruptcy today, the entire city of San Francisco tomorrow. Next week: the rest of California.

I guess I’m just homesick. I love cities, but I don’t like this one as much as I’m supposed to. I’m tired of human feces and urine all over the place, loose-cannon crazy people setting fires willy-nilly, slacker losers smoking pot openly on every street, the cigarette butts everywhere from all those moronic, unwashed Academy of Art students…the list is endless. This is the dirtiest city I’ve ever been in, and it’s a shame because it’s the prettiest in many, many ways.

I just miss New York and the east coast. I miss smart people. I miss clean people, damn it. I miss seasons. I miss bookstores that sell books and not just socialist rants.

Yes, I’m having a really bad day. And it’s only 9 am. ~sigh~

Closest? B&N. Do I shop there? No. There’s a Borders which is (or can be) on my way between my offices where I do most of my shopping. Friendlier, warmer, better selection, good mochas, great hot chocolate. I haven’t checked, but I’m pretty sure it’s not on the closure list since it’s across the street from Woodfield - for those not in the know, the largest purely retail space east of the Mississippi. Lucky me.

spamword: issue 49. And I can think of 49 issues I would have with Borders closing - number one being the closest indy is 45 minutes away. It’s really, really nice, but still…

I have a borders and barnes and noble very close by to my house. But I also have a lil old used bookstore that takes trade ins,and will order anything I need,plus take my trade ins and use that towards my other purchases…which is awesome!! I love Borders and hopfully they don’t close by me. But one thing is for sure…..I hate Barnes and Noble…..no matter what I will not go there unless I have to like for my son’s reading needs,etc! Just never liked that place. So if border closes,I will use the lil ole corner used bookshop,or Amazon plus I just got a kindle,so I have a feeling I won’t be going to the bookstore as much…....love my kindle!

I live in Tampa, FL.  This is NOT a small city.  Depending on the time of day/traffic, my nearest dedicated bookstores are the B&N 15 minutes north of me and the Borders and a second B&N 20 minutes to the southwest of me.  The Borders and 2nd B&N are within 5 minutes of each other, and within 5 minutes of a used bookstore I sometimes visit.  There are several Walmarts, Targets, and grocery stores between me and the dedicated bookstores (and, yes, I have been known to spend $50 or more for books in each of them simply because it was convenient and/or they were open).

I’ve been able to find two indie bookstores that don’t have a primary focus on comics and RPGs.  The two I’ve found are both in an area that is difficult for me to get to.  When I’ve managed to get to the stores (and they’re not closed during posted “open” hours) parking is so bad that in the two plus years I’ve been aware of them, I’ve STILL not been inside either store, despite wanting to support them.

If “my” Borders closes, I’ll lose my primary source for buying and browsing books.  For instant gratification purchases and hours of browsing, I prefer Borders.  For internet purchases, I prefer B&N.  I’d rather find another book or pay more elsewhere than buy from Amazon ever again. 

What could a physical store do to lure me (a person preferring to browse and hang out in bookstores to begin with)?  Sell more books, less all that other stuff.  Some of that other stuff is great, especially at the holidays, but I go to bookstores for books.  Stop playing music/in-store commercials so loud that I can’t hear myself think and have to leave the store or develop a headache.  Chairs are always awesome, especially when my knee is swollen but I’m letting my teenage daughter shop.  Ample parking that’s accessible.

I clicked on the PDF and found out that my neighborhood Borders is scheduled to close.

To say I’m fucking heartbroken is the understatement of the year.

I’ve been going to this Borders for over 10 years.  It’s where I went after I lost my virginity (yes, I’m that much of a nerd).  It’s where I went for a little comfort reading after losing my job.  Hell, it’s where I went for a JOB after I lost my job (and they hired me as a seasonal, which really helped when I needed the extra money).  Even now, my friend and I will go there to browse after we have coffee, or before we go to the indie movie theatre across the street.  It’s a cool place—there are more tchotchkes than there used to be, but still a ton of books (including good romance and YA sections), and a very friendly staff, some of whom I worked with several years ago.

There’s a B&N near my office (my neighborhood B&N closed a few years ago), and I do go there often on my lunch breaks to the cafe, but I really try to keep my purchases at Borders.  I live in a neighborhood with several used booksellers, but one store is very messy and the other has a really unfriendly owner.  Plus, often I want a certain book, and you can’t really go into a used bookstore with that expectation.

One of the Borders in our city (which I also frequented) recently closed and it hurt me.  This is really, really hurting me.  I’m a geek for Borders, I always loved that there was one in my neighborhood, and it’s going to kill me to see them go.

I always wondered how those huge superstores could be profitable considering the overhead costs. My all-time favorite bookstore was a B.Dalton that was in a mall location- it wasn’t much bigger than my first apartment but the stock was great and the two ladies that managed it were the best booksellers I have ever known. I liked B&N and Borders but what has kept me out of their stores over the last few years is that they would not stock new releases the day they came out. And that to me is just dumb, dumb, dumb as most hardcore readers will stalk their favorite bookstores to get their new releases now. So for the last few years Amazon.com has gotten my book business. They always have stuff in stock and I’ve gotten used to waiting a day or two for shipments. And most of the independant bookstores I’ve run into have had no stock in terms of romance and their staff were like cold cups of coffee. I feel terrible for the Borders store closings and all those people out of work but in the end, Borders has no one to blame but themselves. It’s not just about looking pretty and shiny- for a business to survive you got to have what people want to buy and the service to match.

It seems no Borders stores in Omaha/Papillion are closing.  This does not surprise me—there are always quite few peeps in the two locations.  I shop there from time to time since they send me really great coupons and don’t make me pay for a membership.  We have a couple indie stores, mostly Christian or Catholic bookstores.  We have one plain ole bookstore and they have many more author events than the chain stores, so that does sometimes bring me in.

Like Lisa, I live in the Portland area, so Powell’s is the big bookstore presence here. There’s a large B&N three miles from my house, and I’ve reserved a new release to pick up at their front check out a few times. That’s been very convenient. No Borders really close to me, but when I visit family, I usually stop in at the one in Eugene. My main paper book source has become an exchange half a mile from my house. I take in my non-keepers, get credit, then pick up anything that catches my eye for a fifty cent transaction fee. I also stop by Target sometimes to get a new release or two at the 25% discount.

My house is small, so going the ebook route has been a godsend, storage-wise. I love reading on my iPad, but am praying it didn’t just lose a lot of its value yesterday with Apple’s subscription announcement.

I’m a BN employee. I’m here for the books—I know books, I love them, I can recommend titles and series at the drop of a hat, and I have even, occasionally, been able to figure out a book from a customer’s description of “It was red? And there was a woman on the cover? And I know I saw it in here about a year ago?”

But, as sad and annoyed as it makes me, things are changing. As much as some of us like to shop in brick-and-mortar stores, people who need to save money will choose Amazon over a bookstore if it means the book is cheaper. I field at least three calls a day that end with “Well, thanks, but it’s cheaper online. Never mind.” We need to bring people into the stores, and that means carrying more things like games and teaching supplies and electronics.

Another factor is the Nook. I like them. I have one. But if people are buying their e-books, they’re not buying them from the store. The company will get the profit, but the physical store loses out. My store—which is in a good location visited regularly by shoppers from three states—sells a lot of Nooks, but the money from those sales is not making up for the hundreds and hundreds of physical books that people are no longer purchasing from us. So the company has started focusing less on books and more on other things in an effort to turn a profit, which frustrates customers who want to shop in a bookstore.

And needless to say, less profit in a brick-and-mortar store means less payroll time, which means fewer employees, which means customers complaining about the lack of service and deciding to buy off Amazon instead. When I started at this store three years ago, I was easily working 35-40 hours a week. In the last year, my average weekly hours went down to 25. Next week, the most they can give me is 16, half of which will be spent at the Nook kiosk.

If the two Borders near me close, it might bring in more customers. But I will mainly be terrified that this is a sign of my future, and in a few years even BN will fall to e-books and cheap online shopping. Plus, to be honest, Seattle’s Best coffee beats Starbucks by a mile.

Closest bookstore: Borders within walking distance at mall.  Do I go there?: Rarely. Why?: It’s not about the books anymore. People of all ages hang out there, drinking coffee, using computers, making out in the big easy chairs, making a total mess of the merchandise.  I always preferred its little sibling, WaldenBooks, but most of them have already closed.

Will bookstores come back?:  I just don’t know.  Since I bought a Kindle in Feb 09, I have not purchased a hardcopy novel.  I get my non fiction from Amazon and its online partners.  I used to visit a used paperbook bookstore that’s still in business, but it’s been years.

I live in Maine, which has always been unloved by the big chains. Four Borders and one B&N for the entire state. This meant our small instate bookstore chain has managed to survive. The closest bookstore to me is 2 miles and it is one of the small chain. It is tiny and even they have resorted to a selection of calendars, cards, and garden ornaments. The second closest is a used bookstore that has “whenever the owner feels like it” hours. The closest chain store is the lone B&N and it is a 20 minute highway drive away. The four Borders are at least an hour away on the highway. The one I sometimes frequent isn’t great. The floors always seem dusty and the chairs ripped and they never have enough clerks working to keep there from being a long line to check out. It does seem to keep more varied stock than the B&N.

This is so sad! When I lived in Davis, Borders was my bookstore of choice—the staff recommended some of my now-favorite series to me. Right now (I’ve moved), the closest book store is over an hour a way—-And I’m not even in the boonies.

Amazon to the rescue…but no lovely book smell upon entering a shop :(

Well, crap. Just checked the list of stores Borders is closing and they’re closing my store.  Also closing the other store I drive (45 minutes) to.  That leaves one small store that has never had anything I’ve been looking for. 

My heart goes out to all the employees this is going to hurt.

In the same shopping area, I have a Borders, BN and Half-Price Books. I shop at all 3, but Borders has always been my preference since I grew up near the original in Ann Arbor. I’m not thrilled with Borders “new” (3 years or so) mall store—parking sucks, etc—but it gets a lot of foot traffic, which may be why it’s staying open.

If it were to close? I’d be very sad and shop at the other two stores. Seattle, a bit to the north, has a large indie chain, but they’re super-anti-romance, so they aren’t really an option for most things I want.

I live about 15 to 20 minutes from Borders and BN. The BN nearest me closed in December. Yeah, BN. It was the anchor store for the shopping center. But there are still 2 BN nearby.
I prefer to not pay full price for something I may only read once, and I don’t like ebooks, so I’m really glad there are 3 Half Price Books stores on my way to work and within 20 mins of my home. For books I must have now, I have Amazon (paid for Prime membership), and I like their 4 for 3 on notbrandnewmmpreleases.

The nearby Borders where my critque group meets is not on the list for closure (whew…they have such a nice cafe area and we’d rather meet where we can shop after critting than at a plain coffee shop without books).

I agree with the assessment of B&N having a lot of toys, especially in the kids section. Our Borders has a bit of that too, but I think they’ve actually shrunk the junk section in the last year or two, or at least moved books closer to the front of the store.

I live in a good-sized metro area and though several of the Borders are closing, there are still plenty to go around (and a sprinkling of B&N’s and maybe 2 or 3 indies that haven’t been run out of town).

I haven’t bought a physical book for myself since I got my Kindle in spring 2009.  While I used to browse my local Barnes & Noble, in college The Tattered Cover was Mecca.  It’s shrinking in size and moved from their old Cherry Creek building.

I don’t actually miss the bookstores.  I love my Kindle and buying ebooks.  The only thing I could see that I would still want is: a good ambiance for reading and other readers.  So really my needs could be met with a good coffee shop: one with “sink into me” chairs and couches, a fireplace, good low volume music, yummy cheesecake, and quiet spots.  Not the B&N coffee shops with hard seats and little tables.  It would be even better if they had table service, provided snuggle-ly blankets if you want to wrap up on the couch, and hosted book group meetings. 

So goodbye bookstores and hello reading lounges?

The nearest Borders to me right now is over 5 miles away in a shopping center I do not enjoy traveling to, nor do I do much shopping there. I usually frequent the Barnes and Noble that’s less than 2 miles away when I’m going to a brick-and-mortar store.

However, my past 3 years were spent in the San Fernando Valley at a community college just down the street from a Borders and my study groups used to meet there all the time. In addition, the mall closer to my mom’s house had a Borders as well, and that’s where I spent most of my book money before I had a Kindle, and when I didn’t want to wait for Amazon to ship things.

Sadly, the two times I have used Borders.com to order books, I endured looooong wait times (I ordered a book from Amazon on the same day—that one arrived 2 days later, the Borders book took over 9 days; “standard shipping” on each) and in the second case my order was lost entirely and had to be redone. I waited over 2 months for that paperback. It wasn’t worth it.

I do feel bad for the people who are losing their jobs in the real stores, but I can’t say I’m sorry that the corporation as a whole is going under. Their online customer service is terrible.

The Borders I have shopped at for years is on the list. This is sad because there really isn’t another bookstore in that area and the employees at the store are great. Thankfully another one that I shop at was spared. There’s a BN by me, but I never had nearly the success at shopping at BN. The selection seems limited (and full of toys).

Guess this means I’ll be spending even more money on Amazon.

There is a Borders near me but it is not at all convenient to bus riders.  I USED to spend about $50 a pay period at the downtown Brentanos which was part of Borders but the asshat that runs the downtown mall decided he wanted his mall to focus on boutiques and restaurants.  Now no one shops there at all and hood-rats abound.

That Brentanos closed about 4 years ago this May and I have shopped exclusivly online at Amazon and ebay or such.  This solidified my need for a Kindle and I now shop online almost exclusively.  With infrequent purchases made at WalMart, Target or even Walgreens if they have the book I want.  And I ONLY buy paper books of authors that are already established with me and I’m invested in their series.  Everyone else is digital now.

When we lived in Austin, I used to visit Borders a bit, but eventually B&N won me over with comfy chairs.  Now that we live in the Hudson Valley, the closest borders is across the river, so we visit the B&N in the mall.  What I miss about B&N is the comfy chairs; they’ve switched to wood and it’s like being at a school desk again.  I understand the logistics behind encouraging customer turnover in the store, but I would LOVE to find a store with a lot of comfortable book reading places. 

Bookstores can lure me with lots of things.  A romance specific bookstore would make my heart turn over.

The Borders where I work is one of the survivors, although for how long is anybody’s guess. The games and other stuff tend to be at the back of our store: the first thing you see when you enter the store (other than the Kobo display) are displays of books. The focus is still on books at our store, which I like. And our staff is friendly and knowledgeable about books (I liked Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - who’s like that?) and other things.  We’ve got a huge romance selection - anybody want romance books, come in to store 557 in Brighton, MI!

There’s a B&N closer to me, but as a genre fiction reader I’ve never felt welcome there. The staff seem to be unhappy and sullen, at least the few times I’ve been in there.

There are no independent book stores that sell romance anywhere around that I’ve been able to find.

If my store closes, I’ll probably do all my shopping at Amazon.

Double crap.  Found a sortable list of the closings and apparently they’re closing ALL the stores in this area.

Link to the sortable list can be found here:  http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/02/16/is-borders-closing-a-store-near-you-heres-the-full-list/

For brand new books, I have Hastings and Walmart in town. If those weren’t here, it would probably be at least 40 miles to the next place to get new books. Even with those two stores, the selection isn’t always the best for some of the genres and formats I read, so I end up doing almost all my new book shopping (except for Harlequins) online, where I have the benefit of a larger selection and the ability to shop around for good deals. If I go to a store to buy books, I’m usually going to a used bookstore.

Less than a year ago, I opened a gift shop that happens to sell books (about 1/3 to 1/2 of our inventory at any one time is books). It was a strange idea and people still come into the shop and say, “What kind of shop is this?” My concept is that books ARE gifts (for yourself or for others), and if you shop in lovely, curated boutiques that stock unique gifts, why not also have a carefully chosen selection of books to choose from? Who wouldn’t like to get a wonderful book as a gift?

It was and is a strange notion and a bit of a gamble. But at Christmas time, we nearly sold out of books. Cookbooks; romances; fiction; travel; nonfiction… all very nearly sold out. Turns out I was right! People were tired of going into Borders and finding a million books and crappy “gifts” and having no idea what might be right for them.

I do another weird thing: sell the books at the price the publisher has printed on the jacket. That’s how much the book costs and that’s the price on which my wholesale price is based (sometimes the Amazon prices are only a buck or too more than the price the publisher charges me!). So I think Borders closing is party of an overall trend: folks are looking for a personal, curated book buying experience and are willing to pay for it. Cool, huh?

The only sucky thing is that publishers are still operating like it’s 1983 and it’s almost impossible for me to special order stuff. Luckily, there’s a Borders-esque independent bookstore down the road I can send people to when my shop is out of something!

Closest Borders for us here is in Arlington, which is two hours away. However, for us, it is worth the drive once a while (about once every few months) since we combine it with a trip to Half Price Books. Tyler TX does have a B&N, but it is fairly limited in some selections. And for some reason, they have become a little less friendly (they have removed a lot of the comfortable sitting for instance). There is a Hastings in town, but it is mostly used stuff (not all very good) and even more limited (even more unfriendly. They took out all their sitting furniture except for a random chair or two). The couple of indies are pretty much pathetic second hand buyers. In other words, options here are pretty limited.

I’d miss Borders in the sense that usually I find better selection of things we actually read, but as it is not close, not as big a deal I suppose.

As for the public library here, it barely stays open as it is. Not well funded. Collections in a lot of areas woefully out of date. But once in a while they have something in. Point is, in our case, we have to do a lot of effort to find the good stuff.

(Unless you are a right winger. In that case, every bookstore will cater for your need for Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, etc. to your heart’s content).

Best, and keep on blogging.

I will miss my Borders. I have to independent bookstores locally that had been there longer than Borders, but their romance selection sucks and they are very snobby about it. I tried really hard to like/use the independent bookstores but I got so much attitude the times I tried to special order or ask any sort of question. Amazon/paperback swap will get my business now, especially since my local library is being closed.

I feel bad.  I used to buy from borders a lot but once I got a Kindle I purchased from Amazon.  I like them so much more than Barnes and Noble.

Our nearest bookstore (not counting Christian bookstores) is a Barnes and Noble.  It is a nice store, with more books than toys, I would say, and nice, knowledgeable staffers.

Sadly enough, the two independents I grew up with have both closed.  They are missed; they were good stores.

My easily-able-to-walk-to-it Borders is on the closing list.

  The dog will miss the spur of the moment late evening walks to get a new book as much as I will.  (I refuse to buy an e-reader until they sort out the format wars.  I can e-read on my iPhone or my computer if I need to but I still prefer paper.) I have a B&N that I do not like as much about a 10 minute drive away. The few indie bookstores around here tend to be snobby stores where they sneer at popular fiction and are focused on one topic that does not interest me.

I suppose I will get used to the B&N as I use it more.

My Borders here is one of the stores on the closing list. The only other bookstore near me is the B&N at the mall, but their romance section is pitiful. 

I will continue to shop at Borders.com.  But there are times you just want a new release “today!” and since they don’t ship until release day, I find I usually get the books the following Monday.  Oh well, that’s the “price” I will pay.

@library addict -

The only other bookstore near me is the B&N at the mall, but their romance section is pitiful.

That is the biggest problem I have with the nearest B&N in Union Sq. The Romance section is not only pitiful, but it’s hidden in the far back of the store in something that can barely qualify as an aisle. If someone else is in there browsing, you can’t walk past them! If they wanted to make someone feel embarrassed about buying Romance, this definitely does the trick. My favorite location that closed a few months ago had their Romance section in a great space next to windows with lots of light, plenty of chairs, etc. I feel like a second class citizen in the other one, that I’ve basically given up buying any Romance there.

@redgirl - ha!  My husband used to work at the Borders in Davis!  Sadly, he hated working there.  I still love my Borders but my heart broke beyond repair when I went to the Folsom branch in search of a science book and found only a sad, tiny section labeled Pets/Science.  My other Borders has a sad, tiny science section tucked behind the Religion/NewAge shelf.  Sad, sad, sad.

fear44 - I feared the end days would arrive in only 44 minutes but it seems to be taking longer.

Ugh. The small Borders that is the only bookstore for the town I mentioned above is on the list. Anyone wanting a book will have to go to Target, Walmart, Amazon, or endure horrendous traffic. Sad.

Ugh. My local Borders is about 5 minutes from my house and is one of the stores listed as to be closed.
Apart from Borders, locally, we have one good second hand bookstore (with some new books as well and a great romance section) and three indie bookstores who treat romance readers (and authors) as if we have the plague.
I’ll miss the convenience of my local Borders but not the unhelpful staff.

Ffffuuuuu the borders store that I’m within walking distance of is closing. So sad. It’s definitely going to decrease the times I go shopping for books, since I’ll have to drive out of my way to one.

It was also the store with the best selection—the rest in the neighborhood are sadly lacking in YA books, my primary form of sustenance.

This is really sad news.

Borders has always been so awesome to me through my career.  This is like the serious illness of a dear friend.  Our local Borders closed years ago, leaving us with a choice of Barnes and Noble or the grocery store.  There are a few resale bookstores, but as an author I try to buy other authors’ works new, so they see the pocket change.

oh, crap.  my Borders is on the closing list.  that is the closest large bookstore to me, and i go there every friday.  most of the time i buy a book, using that week’s coupon and the gift cards i get from my credit card rewards program - which has been most of my new book buying budget for years.  it closing definitely affects me.  :(  [also, the 2-3 other nearest full size Borders 15-20 miles away are being closed.]

other options: every friday i also hit the large used bookstore one way down the street from Borders, and there’s an indie bookstore the other way down the street - but they’re one of those stores that seems to think romance books carry disease.  a little farther away there’s a mall Borders Express that isn’t on the closing list, but it doesn’t offer the convenience that the big store did, like being able to check in advance if they have the book i want in stock before i drive over there, and it’s a separate trip instead of next to someplace i was already going.

in the end, i suspect amazon wins.

I am smack-dab in between two Borders in the Northern Virginia DC Metro area, both about 10 minutes away.  Neither is on the closing list, which I am very grateful for as I have friends who work there.  There’s also a B&N about 10 minutes away.  I only ever go there to get birthday presents for my daughter’s friends.  If I want to be surrounded by books, I go to our AMAZING libraries here in Fairfax County.  If I want to buy, I go 45 minutes out to McKay’s, a Used CD and Book Store and drop a hundred bucks for thirty to forty books.  Or, if I am desperate, I scope buy.com, Amazon, eBay, etc. 

I am a single parent.  I just do not have the luxury of paying full price for a book.  I am also a preschool teacher and use the library like an addict to keep my classroom in books.  In all honesty, I really do find bookstores quite outdated…does anyone really need to go there anymore?

My closest book store (less than 5 miles) is a BAM which flat out sucks. The most positive thing I can about it is that is *sometimes* has a magazine I’m looking for.

The BEST book store is about 10 miles and is a local independent Katy Budget Books and they are made of awesome and win. They also love and respect their romance readers because they know we’re the ones keeping them in the black.

I live in a suburb of Houston (25 miles to the west), I’ve lived here 6 years and stepped foot in a Borders once. Over a 45 minute drive and it was ok - but not worth a special trip, I just happened to be in the area.

I only shop at B&N when I need a magazine. And most of the time I decide I can live without it, there is no B&N within a convenient distance.

There is also another awesome local Independent (in Houston) named Murder by the Book - they are a 45 minute drive that is worth a special trip. 

You want me in your store? Don’t shove romance off in a poorly lit corner. Have an awesome newstand. Have both new & used books. And author signings.

News like this is just depressing. Our area is one of the lucky ones. Libraries are still open, Barnes and Noble up the street is well stocked with books (only a couple racks of games stuck around after the holidays). None of the three Borders I know about are on the closure list.

I shop at Borders only rarely - it’s farther than B&N and doesn’t have the same selection. And the second biggest Powell’s location is a couple of blocks from my nearet Borders. My mom, across town, has a Borders as her closest bookstore and she loves it.

Sending good wishes for everyone else to have and keep thier booksellers and libraries!

I guess I am in the lucky group as well. There is a library up the road rom me that I can walk to, well at least when the weather is nice and the other direction even closer is a Hastings. Hastings has a lot of other things but at least some books. Sadly the budget cuts have killed the library hours often, so I have to plan around that. Mostly I have been using Amazon.com for my books. Most of the little local bookstores are way out of the way and often have books in a general direction and usually not romance.

I have a Borders not even five minutes from me. And Hopefully, it’s not one of the one’s being shut down. If not, I gotta take a 20 minute drive over to Barnes & Noble, which I personally don’t like because they usually don’t have what I’m looking for.  (Although, I will admit B&N has a slighty better Art section.)

Luckily, my local library is one of the better libraries here, so there’s not chance it’s closing, given that they just finished putting in a garden. Worse case, I’ll just goe there and get my literary fix.

As for a store getting me in?  Off the top of my head, Book Signings, definitely, and a better ‘Foreign’ media section. Maybe even, some little meet and greet and talk about a particular book/genre, etc. I think the greatest time I’ve had at a book store was the Deathly Hollows release. (So, maybe if they made every book release like Harry Potter? I dunno, it sounds like a fun idea.)

I am blessed to live in Connecticut where we have lots and lots of Borders and Barnes and Nobles. Seriously Borders is closing six stores in CT, and neither of them are the two I go to.
The Barnes and Noble closest to me is a long time favorite,(I went there my entire childhood; I joke about it being a second home.) but recently they have been cutting back on inventory, stocking less books on the shelves, and cutting back on New Releases.  I went to buy Unveiled for the SBs website book club and BN did not have it. I went to Borders and bought it there.
Borders also tends to have more books that were released a few years ago. Of the recently re-released Heyers, for example, Borders tends to have more in stock.
Finally @ Corrinne; you certainly are lucky; you live in one of the most affluent counties in America. I know tons of people who live there! Yeah I bet they have wonder AMAZING libraries there (My own library is okay, but it faces Major budget cuts like every other library in existence.) If you had bothered to read the comments you would know thats hundreds of people in remote areas of the country don’t have access to AMAZING Libraries, rely on the big chain bookstores to find books rather than shop at Target/Walmart or shop on-line. (Lots of people like buying books in person for the same reason you like going to the library.) Try to moving to remote area and see if you don’t buy books. Not to mention if you lived in cheaper area of the country; you might be able to afford a few books.
I am so sorry if this is too snarky; but I am deeply offended by your comments that bookstores are obsolete, and the arrogance that comes from some who lives in one of the wealthiest places in country.

I live in Denver where there are a lot of B&N and Borders stores. My husband and I make a habit out of getting coffee at the bookstore and wandering through the racks while sipping. I feel awful that I might be somewhat responsible for the demise of Borders because I use it only for browsing. I prefer e-books or getting a cheaper price from Amazon. Hubby and I have been speculating for a few years now that bookstores may become a relic of the past.

As someone who works in a bookshop, I think it’s awful when one, never mind 200, closes. It hits incredibly close to home. Almost a year ago, almost out of nowhere, I came home from work one day to turn on the news and find I had lost my job because the company I worked for had gone into recievership. It was utterly horrible. I LOVE working in a bookshop. LOVE it. My story however has a nice ending. After several months, a new company bought some of the shops in our chain and most of us got our jobs back and our bookshop was brought back to life. So to all those people who have lost their job and bookshop in their local area, I hope this story, though on a much smaller scale, gives you some hope.

My Borders closed two months ago. And my B&N isn’t nearly as romance genre friendly as the Borders was. No HQ category books at all.

But… and here is the crazy thing… I haven’t been to a bookstore since I bought my Kindle.

I can’t help but feel a little guilty becauase I know I’m probaby the reason I’m putting someone out of a job.

But the convenience of having a book store in my purse… you just can’t compare to that.

On the flipside I’m buying more books than ever. So hopefully writers out there are prospering.

Bookstores are not the only thing becoming obsolete.
Libraries are equally endanger. Many towns looking for budget cuts, and taking it out on libraries. Many libraries are cutting books and hours, like SB Sarah mentioned.
Then there are political people in this country who want to cut out all government institutions. They would like to get rid of not only libraries but public schools!
This movement is both anti government and anti intellectual.
For those of you who love your libraries, talk to your local politicians,  and representatives make sure they know how you feel.

My local Borders is one of the ones closing, but I hardly ever go there.  My local B&N is only about five minutes away, and that’s where I’ve got my membership.  I usually go there for anything that isn’t discounted above 10% at B&N.com.  There are two formerly-local-now-owned-by-Books-a-Million stores in the neighborhood of fifteen minutes away, and there’s another B&N near the Borders, around twenty-five minutes away.  So I’m saddened in principle by a bookstore closing, but this one won’t really affect me.

My closest bookstore is actually an indie store.  I do not shop there because they do not stock romance, they sneer at me when I ask for it and they treat some customers better than others.  Whenever I hear someone bemoaning how big business is eating the indie bookstores, all I can think is how much better the service is at my local big business than it is at my indie. (I’m sure there are many excellent indie stores out there…I’ve just never encountered one personally.)

Actually, I order most of my books online these days. *shrug*

Nearest ‘bookstore’ is a Hastings 20 miles up the road but I never go there, because their selection and prices suck and their section on religion is bigger than all other sections combined.

The ‘nearest’ bookstore I do go to once a month (when I’m in town for a meeting) is a Borders 100 miles from my house in Brentwood, TN, and which doesn’t seem to be on the chopping block right now, I’m glad to say.  I’ve gone to the one in Franklin, TN that is closing and am surprised to hear it’s not doing well enough.  Every time I’ve been in there, it was packed with shoppers actually buying things.

There are Barnes and Noble stores minimally closer, but I absolutely detest B&N after several outrageous shopping experiences with incompetent and/or rude staff and a complete disaster of an online order which required me to make a 170 miles roundtrip to return books that they couldn’t cancel (even though they didn’t ship the books for 2 months after I ordered them).  I hate that Borders is in trouble, because I don’t know where I’ll go if they don’t make it.

I live about ten blocks from a Barnes & Noble…and I almost never shop there.  I buy my new books from Amazon, because the electronic ones appear instantly on my Kindle and the paper ones land on my doorstep two days later.  There’s no going to the bookstore and being disappointed if they’ve sold out of or aren’t stocking a new release, and I can shop when it’s convenient for me and not have to deal with traffic and parking around the mall.  And buying online is just much more practical if what you’re shopping for is at all obscure—and here “obscure” can mean just “backlist titles by that moderately popular author I just discovered,” or “books for a military history geek more interested in the Napoleonic Wars than the Civil War or WWII.”

The bookstores I actually enjoy shopping in are UBSs, whether it’s the little one two blocks from my office or going to Powell’s whenever I happen to be in Portland.  It’s the treasure hunt aspect.  And my love of Old Book Smell, though browsing an academic library’s stacks is the best way to get a hit of that.

Really, I’m an online shopper by preference for almost everything.  I even buy GROCERIES online.  Shoes, jeans, and bras I prefer to try on first…but even then, once I get a style I like and know fits, I’ll order more of it online.  It’s not that I don’t like to shop, but I’m busy, and I love the convenience of having everything I want delivered to my door.

I live in San Jose CA and I am uber-blessed with the bookstore bounty all around. There is a Borders close to my office, but I just don’t shop there so it won’t impact me. Within, say, a 20 mile radius?, I’ve got: Keplar’s in Menlo Park, Books Inc and Bookbuyers (the UBS version of Books Inc with - I kid you not - at least 8 shelves of La Nora, not counting the Robb books) in Mountain View, Leigh’s Favorite Books in Sunnyvale (UBS), Recycle 1 and 2 in downtown SJ and Campbell (UBS) and a couple of B&N.

When I want major backlist, I hit Amazon or BookDepository (OMG FREE SHIPPING from the UK). Otherwise, I love the fact that I’ve got all these local bookstores available and don’t really need Borders.

(I do feel you on the indie bookseller snark for romance, though. Leigh’s is mostly women-staffed and I get NO snark for the romance buying, whee! OH! and they have online search and they’ll ship! www.leighsfavoritebooks.com)

I actually live near the three Border’s in Ann Arbor (one of which is slated for closure), but I miss the original Border’s, like everyone else in the area. It hasn’t been the same since they sold the company to K-Mart - more junk, less inventory, fewer experienced employees. The “mother store” downtown is still good, but the branches are virtually indistinguishable from B&N.

It’s sad - especially for the people around here that work there (and in the corporate hq) - but no one here is surprised.

An update on Borders closings:

The liquidation business handling the closings has released a list of which stores will close.  From the looks of it, Connecticut will lose 2/3rds of its Borders locations.  The nearest Massachusetts store will close too.

And get this:  Borders has already removed these locations from its website.

Ever since it reduced its inventory, I’ve turned to other stores to find much of what I wanted for my library, but to see the tangible absence of my local store saddens me nonetheless.

I am glad the Borders @ the mall near us isn’t one of the closing ones, even though I hardly shop there—just like to browse (mostly the gift & tchotchkes others seem to find so repellent) and drink coffee while waiting for time to head over to the movie theater.

Borders has been in trouble for so long—I think they were just too slow to realize they had to change with the times and get into the ebook biz. (Hey, remember a little chain called Tower Records? Hold on, I have to download the song I just heard on the radio, let me switch over to iTunes for a sec…Ok, I’m back.) It’s nice that they sell stationery and other papergoods—but seriously, when was the last time you needed some stationery?  Their tiny gifts/paper department & half-hearted movie/music selection obviously wasn’t enough to offset the loss of book sales to (damn them) Amazon.

I was devoted to my public library which is a block from my house.  Then I was gifted a Nook for Christmas.  Due to a family emergency, I had to travel and took the Nook along causing an immediate and unnerving addiction.  It’s little.  It slips in my purse.  I can take an 800 page backbreaker—many of them in fact—with me no matter where I go.  If I finish something at three in the morning and MUST read the next in the series I can have instant gratification with a prompt download.  I am addicted I tell you.  Who needs a bookstore of bricks and mortar?  I can download mine wherever, whenever.  Joy to the world.

Chicago still has a pretty vibrant bookstore presence - although we’ve lost a lot of good indie bookstores in the past 10 - 15 years, and now several Border’s. 

I work across the street from the public library in one direction and BN in the other.  I use both of them regularly, although I’m trying to use the library more and cut down on the impulse “must have something to read on the el ride home and then give away later” book purchases.  I live two blocks from a used bookstore which I rarely go to.  There’s a good indie bookstore, Women and Children First, a few miles from me that I go to when I need a reliable recommendation, especially for buying book presents for children. 

I grew up in Ann Arbor and I have many fond memories of spending entire afternoons browsing in the original Border’s with my friends.  I have to say I don’t really browse bookstores for pleasure anymore - I browse on Amazon or read blogs for recommendations.  And I buy from Amazon a lot too.  I feel the same sense of vague, shared guilt about the Border’s closings that I felt when one of my favorite indie bookstores closed a few years ago.  I love these stores, they’re a part of my history, but I don’t use them much these days.

I always found Borders to be pricey. We used to use Barnes and Noble, but now it is all Amazon or my library.
Our favorite places in NY/NJ in re: to bookstores where you can just browse and buy to high heaven is the Montclair Book Center in Montclair NJ. In NYC it is the motherland, The Strand.
I was just informed of a local bookseller out by here we live in Western NJ and I look forward to checking them out.
While I love my new Kindle, holding a book is a thrill I will never lose and the smell of books in both of those places is just choice.

Katie D. I want to shop in your store!!
Reading through everyone’s comments I do have a question. Why are people who own/work in indy stores often so off putting?
I’ve been in shops where they’ve made me feel like I’m an intruder rather than a valued source of income. Isn’t this a little counterintuitive? Certainly it’s been off set by experiences like the used book store owner who overheard me waxing nostalgic about “Mrs. Mike” to my bff -probably offshooting from something about her being Canadian and her daughter being about the age I was when I read it- and dug out TWO copies to choose from. But he’s the exception. By and large most of my experiences in non-used independent bookstores has been unremarkable. Aren’t these the people who should be soliciting my good opinion the most, regardless of their personal opinion of my reading material?

I live dangerously close to a Hastings and actually had to talk myself out of going today so I can save it for my long weekend in a few days. Beyond that I have to travel almost an hour to B&N and BAM both of which are attached to malls. Unless I get to them early on weekdays (which is impossible) they are crowed with spillover mall crowds and packs of roving teenagers. Teenagers who sit on the floor in the middle of the aisles and then go over to the romance sections and make derogatory comments about the books and those who read them. In others words, browsing the bookstore is not the peaceful fun thing it used to be. I don’t have an ereader yet, but I just downloaded the Kindle APP to my computer to see if I can take to ebooks and I think I can.

Sad day. It’s hard for me to feel sorry for a megacorporation, and of course I support indie bookstores, but in so many cases, Borders is the only available bookstore. I recently moved to a much larger city, so my choices have increased exponentially, but in my old town, Borders was pretty much my only choice for new books. There were a few used bookstores, including an awesome one two blocks from my apartment, but there were no other new bookstores. I’m sad to know that this will make it so much more difficult for so many people to find great books. :-(

42 miles away…nearest bookstore. Unless you count the community college bookstore that’s open three afternoons a week and sells only textbooks and $3 highlighter pens.

Sigh.

I use Borders for the bulk of my new “book” buying.  I have a kindle but sometimes you just want to have the book in your hand.  And other times I figure if the publisher is going set the electronic price so high then there had better be some paper involved that I can call my own.

I looked at the list and the three Border’s locations closest to me are all on the closing list.  Not to mention the one that I sometimes stop at on the way home from work - on the list -or the two closest to my elderly parents home that I take them out to on a regular basis - on the list.

I used to use the library quite often but I have a very long commute these days and with budget cuts (read less hours open) in the city the only day I can actually get to an open branch is Saturday.

Border’s tends to be my go to spot when traveling for work and don’t have enough time to sight-see but do need to kill some time - always comfortable, familiar and you never know what treasures you might find while browsing.

I’ve got a Best Bargain Books near me, which is a warehouse-type deal with whatever they’ve got on the shelves, which are crammed full of fairly random things.  I try to go there only a few times a year, because even though it’s heavily discounted, I always leave with a stack!

The bookstore I shop at most frequently is a little hole in the wall in Penn Station.  They always have plenty of the bestsellers, a good selection of classics, children’s, and popular authors in romance, scifi/fantasy, and so on.  Both Penn Books and Best Bargain Books have other stuff, but what they mostly have is books.  Not ambiance, or toys—books.

Oddly enough, the Borders that are closest to me don’t appear to be closing.

Okay, rant time. I worked at Borders for two years. Last January, I was placed on something called “contingency employment,” because I went back to school and didn’t have open availability 4 days a week. “Contingency employment” meant that while I would no longer be working any hours, I was still technically employed with them and so didn’t qualify for any unemployment benefits. Anyway, at first it was my dream job. I love books and reading, and I love helping people find what they are looking for. However, after they realized how much trouble they were in, changes were made. Suddenly, we were expected to sell specific titles-to every single customer. It was a rotating selection of 2-3 books that no one had ever heard of. For example, someone would come in asking for romance recommendations, and if I didn’t enthusiastically endorse whatever title they had chosen for the week I was subject to disciplinary action. It sucked hard. Plus, when I started all of the employees loved books and reading. When I left, I was one of two employees who read for pleasure. Seeing that store change broke my heart. I feel terrible for the employees, but the big corporation can suck it, as far as I’m concerned. They are my closest bookstore, and I still shop there sometimes, but I would love to have an independent bookstore with friendly and knowledgable employees near me! It is hard to find a good one.

Looking at the list, it appears that EVERY Borders in the metro Orlando area is closing.  Good thing I burned through that gift card last month. 

I’ll miss my local Borders.  Thankfully, there’s a used book store within three miles of my house that has the most rocking romance section known to man, along with two awesome ladies who know and respect the genre.  *swoon* 

As to what I’d love to see in a bookstore.  Knowledgeable staff(see above paragraph), a great selection without the clutter of toys and other junk, and competitive pricing.  Honestly, I don’t see the point in paying for a “discount card” at BN or BAM when I already get a discount (& free shipping) through amazon.

@Ashley:  Oh yes, The Make Books.  My store went on a quiet disobdience campaign to ignore them.  They tried EVERYTHING to get us all to hawk them to everyone - bribes, threats, contests- and we all listened politely and did nothing.  I went on a rampage on Twitter to… I can’t remember if it Sarah or Candy - about what bullshit it all was.  Since it was all of us, they couldn’t do anything. 

At the time I worked at the public defenders office, and all the clients my unit handled were sex offenders.  Borders during the Make Book Era was far far FAR more stressful than that job ever was.

Darn, my Boarders is closing. But I am lucky that I have a Half-Price and B&N near. But my FAV book store is Books & Co. I get warm tingles going into that store- 2 stories, every section seems large, teacher ed books, I can find things, staff is very friendly and knowledgable despite size, I feel like Scarlet walking down the marble stairs. And they just opened a small privately owned used store near my parents.

ah, make books. I remember that era. The only book that wasn’t terminally depressing was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Then there was the illusion that, if we only called all our customers by name (asking for it if they paid in cash), we’d build loyalty and people would shop at Borders more.

Only some of the misguided steps upper management took to pass the buck and ignore the fact that half the time our computer systems are down or that our inventory system reflects only a fantasy.

I’m lousy at toeing company lines. I won’t push something that I don’t believe in. I’m sure my general numbers stink - I don’t know, I don’t pay attention to that sheet on the bulletin board - but I know books, and I know a lot of our customers and what they like. I’m still employed. Of course, who knows how long that’ll last.

I am relieved that the Davis Borders will remain (for now?), but the Borders near my hometown is going. DAMMIT. There were already no bookstores in that town anyway. I guess they’re closing that one because there’s a B&N across the freeway or something.

Ugh. Yeah, Amazon can get me whatever book I want, but I can’t really go flip through the book ahead of time so well to determine if I want to get it or not. Last weekend I was in Borders for hours leafing through one research book, determined that I already had books that covered this material, and then got a different book on the topic instead. I could do that BECAUSE I could look at them in person beforehand. If I’d just ordered what I came in for off Amazon, I would have been disappointed in what I got and not had the experience of being able to casually leaf through other books in the store.

I wonder if the list is comprehensive? There are no Houston stores listed. I’m inside the city limits - west side - and there’s a Borders 5 minutes from my house. It’s not as well stocked as the B&N 10 minutes away, but for some reason every B&N in Houston is staffed by hipster douchebags and I just can’t stand it.

I do love Murder by the Book - they have great author signings - and I frequent Half Price Books as well. Truth is, though, I try not to shop in brick and mortar bookstores because I get in trouble and spend way too much money.

I do feel for all the folks who will lose their jobs because of this.

Okay, off-topic, but I feel it is necessary: People miss BN’s comfy chairs, but I gotta warn you - DO NOT sit in the comfy chairs at bookstores or the library! I worked at a BN where we vacuumed the comfy chairs five days a week and they were still disgusting. Just because you can’t see the stains or dust or dried skin or other yuck doesn’t mean it isn’t there. When we got rid of ours, they were up for grabs for employees and NO ONE put their name in the hat. We never mentioned it when people complained, but man, they should have been thanking us. Wooden chairs aren’t comfy, but - faced with the choice - I will always choose them over public comfy chairs.

Looking at the list, it seems that our Borders will not be closing, which makes it our closest bookstore at 1 hour and 10 minutes away.

I would love if someone would try to open a store closer to us. As it stands I buy most of my books at Target or Walmart, which sucks. Generally they don’t have books that I want and I have to either get them at the library or online.

My Borders is closing, and I will miss it. There’s a B&N nearby that I suppose I’ll wind up switching to, though I preferred the Borders. And there’s a Books.A.Million that I love, but I don’t often have a good excuse to travel that far out of my way. There’s also a Waldenbooks close by, but I hate that store. Most of the clerks there attend a nearby Public Ivy, and give me lip about my reading choices, bleh.

Closest bookstore is a Barnes & Noble.

There is a Borders about 15 miles away.

I still buy most of my books in person, but I get about 95% of my reading material from the library. For a girl with a serious reading monkey on her back, the public library is a must have. If I bought everything I read, I’d have to live in a cave made from my books.

The nearest bookstore to me (until recently) was a Borders.  Love that store!!  The guy at the checkout knows me, they help, they always had the books the DAY they came out.  Local news reports today list that store as one of the locations that will close.  So very sad!

Recently a large, two story Barnes and Noble opened near this Borders.  The gentleman most often at the information desk could not possibly be more condescending.  They carry as much in puzzles, gifts, toys and other “non-book” items as books.  It’s big, but not because they have more wonderful books. 

I will have to go a considerable distance to get to a Borders now, but I will try to go there as often as I can.

I also will, unfortunately, order more from Amazon. 

It just isn’t the same, and I will miss it…....... so it goes.

Comfy chairs = bedbugs

I guess I’m old fashioned, but I am usually annoyed as all heck by the folks who put stacks of books and magazines on a cafe table and flip through them, licking their fingers to turn pages, getting greasy crumbs on the pages, spilling coffee on them, etc., and then leaving them all there for a sales person to have to put away later—usually after the store closes.

Not only were they not paying for their reading material, but they were rendering said material unsaleable to those of us who are so stuffy and fuddy-duddy we believe in paying for the goods we consume.

It’s one thing to browse a book, but allowing people to really dig in and eat their lunch at the same time isn’t really a good idea. You know the usual suspects will always take advantage and spoil things for the responsible people.

Just one factor among many leading to the overall demise of the business—too-big stores filled with bland junk in the hopes of appealing to everyone, cutting back on quality staff, missing the boat on internet sales, and then missing the boat again when it came to e-books, etc.

The best chain bookstores around were the Waldenbooks branch of Borders, Inc., and the old B. Dalton’s.  I wonder if Borders can reinvent itself via this bankruptcy and return in a smaller, book-specific form.

I am ten miles away from a Borders that is NOT on the list, and a B&N. There’s a used bookstore in our town; they make fun of me for reading romance novels, so I don’t spend a lot of time in there. We also live thirty miles from the city that spawned Amazon.com. There’s lots and lots of books here. I’ve done my best to read most of them.

The difference between Borders and Barnes & Noble, at least here: Borders in Redmond Town Center, Redmond, WA, employs a woman named Andrea that should be working for RWA. She is the Goddess of Romance. She is a walking, talking expert on the genre. Her romance section is the most extensive I have seen in Washington State, period. If you tell her what you read, she will recommend wonderful books by authors you haven’t read yet. Her taste is impeccable. She has an exhaustive customer e-mail list, and she will let you know when your favorites release new books. She’s amazing.

Other side of the spectrum: I walked into Barnes & Noble last week to meet a friend. I was a few minutes early, and I wanted to pick up a copy of Eloisa James’ latest. Couldn’t find it. The romance section is buried in the back of the store, badly organized, and little variety. (True story: I was meeting a multi- NYT bestselling romance author for coffee that day. She lives half a mile from the store. She visited once to find one copy each of two of her books.) So, I asked if I could possibly get a copy of Eloisa James’ book. The computer had to be consulted. There was hemming and hawing. Finally, the bookseller consented to locate the book. He returned with the prior book.

“I’m sorry, but that isn’t When Beauty Tamed the Beast. Where might I look for it?”

The other bookseller at the cash registers (young female) rolled her eyes and said, “Aren’t all those books the same?”

Oh, yeah.
We won’t mention the fact that romance is more than likely paying both of their salaries…

I just looked at the list. I live in a pretty big metropolitan community in Southern California. They are closing BOTH of my local Borders. I am so bummed. I shop at borders because I am part of their rewards program and get my paperbacks for five bucks. You can’t beat that. Both of them had a pretty extensive romance selection. I like being able to depend on the price and that what I am looking for will be there. I also like that I can browse versus my local indie book store, which has like, 5 romance novels on the shelf. They are really nice and say that they will order anything but that still means I have to wait 4 days.

There is one independent bookstore near me, but the staff is rude and the store stock is limited. I see no reason to shop there and pay full price for a book. 

I have a B&N and a Borders near where I work (They are actually within a half mile of each other.  I love to go in and browse for books, but have been disappointed lately in both of them.  B&N used to have a wonderful seating section with comfy chairs.  Now they expanded their Nook display to a good part of the first floor and decreased the amount of seating.  Borders selection has gone down hill.  I went this weekend looking for two new releases and they had neither of them

I find myself getting most of my books either from my library (I’m a librarian) or from Amazon (both print and for my Kindle).  The selection and prices are better.  I will continue to go to bookstores and buy occasionally because I like the experience, but I definitely go less than in the past.

nearest bookstore - toss up between the bordera about 5 miles up the hill near the interstate and the B&N about 5 mi the other way on the other interstate :)  (gotta love NJ - lots of interstates)  books are sold in a number of big box stores closer than that - such as the kmart 1 mi from me.

lately, i dont buy so much do to budget contraints, but i love the library!  (and hear you on the cuts!  my town just announced cutting the book buying budet by a lot)

I’ve been getting a lot of stuff by trolling amazon for cheap, cheap used ones so that when you add the shipping its still less than the list price. but that only works when i know what i am looking for.  i get some as gifts.  and have recetly be shopping eharleqin b/c what i want to read are no longer in the stores for the series books,.

i love to walk through a brick and mortar bookstore and just look.  and read.  and browse.  but i only so that when i can be tempted to buy.

oh i’m so sad. I’ve just moved to Ann Arbor and was so looking forward to spending time in the original Borders but i’m pretty sure it’s the Ann Arbor one that is closing. *sigh*

I’m from Aus and I loved the Borders stores - even though they were a big american conglomerate chain. Luckily in Australia they have pretty good chain book stores (dymocks, angus and robertson - which bought out Borders) as well as smaller bookstores.

I have a kobo which I’ve been wanting for ages (least an affordable ereader that is usable in Australia without too many issues - but that’s another story) And yes all my books since then are ebooks - but i feel I have practical reasons for buying ebooks over physical books as I am now doing a two year stint in the US and don’t want to have to package a million books home and prior to this my book buying was limited by my tiny bedroom with a small bookshelf.

As much as I love my kobo and the availability of ebooks for making my life convinient etc I also love books. The look the feel the smell of books. I love how they age as you read your favourites over and over. And one day I aspire to have a house or appartment with ample shelving for a proper library. And i will fill it with all the books I love. Any of the books on my kobo that I love - i plan to go back and buy in book form once i have the space. And that’s what i love about the ebooks - i can have lots of really bad ones - the ones i would never read again and save my lovely library space for the books i will read over and over.

so i really hope that bookstores and physical books don’t get completely shafted - i think that there is room for both ebooks and hardcopies

I have a Borders and a Barnes and Noble about equidistant to me, I have to say, I actually prefer the BN - it’s the one that has the ambiance that you were talking about, not the Borders. Also - I have a nook, so there you go. That being said, I’ve gotten a lot of books from Borders as well (since it’s the one at the mall, I’ll pop in when shopping, when I’m early for a movie, which never happens, etc…) and they have a pretty good romance selection, which I love.

I’ve always been a huge library fan, though. My local library is absolutely awesome. The librarians are all friendly, the selection is awesome, and I’ve never once had anyone look askance at me for trying to order in a romance that they don’t have. I used to go there when I was in elementary school and check out like 15 books at a time - really, I’d have to say they’re the ones (along with my family of course) that have really fostered my love of reading. Like a said, a great romance selection, a great YA section (or at least it was great when I was that age) and even chapter books for kids. I can’t sing their praises enough. I never thought twice about how great they were until I’d heard stories from other romance readers about their libraries.

I know that’s way off topic, but growing up, we rarely to never purchased books. (my whole family read too much - waaaay too expensive) We made weekly trips to the library. Like I said, as I started buy books, I was pretty evenly split between Borders and BN, until I got my nook.

In Oklahoma City the Borders that will close is within two miles of a very large Indie (complete with fireplace, specialty books, and coffee) which did indeed survive the opening of Barnes & Noble. So three huge book stores within 2 miles of each other, with Borders the last to open. What were they thinking? I would have loved a Borders my side of town.

My nearest bookstore depends… when I’m on campus, it’s the campus bookstore/Barnes and Nobles. When I’m in my hometown, it’s the Books-a-million about 30 minutes away.
But I’ve pretty much given up on buying books. I don’t have the money to throw out on a book I’ll only read once or twice, especially if it turns out to be a book I won’t even read once. Also, the selections has gotten so narrow. We use to have a decent teen section and an okay sci-fi/fantasy section, but now? I can hardly stand to walk into the book store. For one, it’s hell to find what I’m looking for. The stores get so preoccupied with showcasing the fancy covers of books they want you to buy that the alphabetical order kind of dissolves. So maybe the book you want is in store but it’s two rows over from where it should be. Another reason is that ever since Twilight has had meteoric success, we’ve been flooded with its clones in the teen section. And the fantasy section is full of paranormal romances (to offset Twilight?), which piss me off. You have this lovely strong heroine, like Ilona Andrew’s Kate Daniels. And she falls for this completely possessive ultra-male. They fight like hell first, but then she gives in. And I could forgive it if it happened once, but no. I’ve seen it in multiple times in books that have been recommended to me and having that in a book almost completely ruin it for me. You have to have an awesome plot to make me keep reading. So I’ve been forced to expand my range and have found new books and authors in this kind of Lovecraftian-fantasy-sci-fi zone that exists… but not in conventional bookstores.
Fortunately, by shuttling between two cities and sweet-talking my way into a library card (seriously, they did not want me to have it) in my college town, I can manage to get enough books to fuel my addiction.
Oh, and Amazon. My problem with amazon is that it takes around five days for a book to get to me…but it takes me one or two to read it. Unless I’m ordering large quantities (which I can’t, I’m poor), it really is not any use to me except for textbooks and the occasional new release I cannot wait for.

I live in the Boston area, so there’s no lack of bookstores, even though one of the Boston Borders is closing.  However, few of those bookstores sell romance.  I’ve always relied on Borders for that, and found their romance section much better than Barnes and Noble’s.  I go to Barnes and Noble only on the rare occasions that they have a particular romance that Borders doesn’t.  That’s happened maybe twice in the past three years.  There’s an independent bookstore that I love, but it doesn’t carry romance at all.  I do use the library very extensively, especially to try new authors, but some books I just want to buy.

It looks like my Borders is one of the survivors. I have to admit, though, I don’t shop there very often. Generally I only go to a physical bookstore when I need a book in a big hurry, like my son tells me he has a book report due the next day (grr!).

I love to browse in Borders, but I can’t stand paying full price, especially for hardcovers. What I do sometimes buy is YA and children’s books, which are more reasonable. I’ll give my kids each $10 or $20 and tell them to pick what they want (books only, no toys).

Since I am a hardcore reader (over 100 books a year), I have to be very price conscious when it comes to my own reading.

I do most of my book shopping at a local store (Book Soup in LA), b/c they’ll order anything, the store is great (all books and books only!), and I love the cool folks there.

The thing is…I am too embarrassed to order Romance from them.  Not proud of that.  But it’s totally The Cool Kid Store and listening to them struggle to be openminded when repeating my “I’m sorry, did you say you wanted ‘Dreams of a Dark Warrior’?” order makes me want to crawl under a rock and die. 

So that….that’s an addiction scratched online.  Like I said, not proud.  :)

There’s something for the convenience of B+N and Borders, but as so many have mentioned more eloquently, it’s just not a positive book shopping experience.

I was in downtown Chicago for the holidays and freaked when I saw the GIANT Borders across from Water Tower Place closing…I knew that was the beginning of the end then…

We have a Borders just a few miles down the road that is still open as of now - but honestly, I haven’t been doing much shopping there - I prefer to drive an extra 20 minutes so I can peruse the always changing and much more affordable shelves at Half Price Books - love them! And my 7 and 2 year old love their kids section - and there are NO toys just books and books and BOOKS! We walk thru the door and they race off for the back corner to see what new books may have come in since the last time we were there.
How, how can we combine the luxury of a big Borders store, the friendliness & charm of (most) indie booksellers, the ease and price comparison capabilities of Amazon, the swap and share business model of HPB,  and couple it with a decent cafe and lots of comfy couches and cozy fireplaces…hmmm….does such a place exist? I’d like to pay it a visit!

Stock books and lots of them - this isn’t a terrible problem at the BN near me (the Borders in town closed…oh, probably 3-4 years ago now), but there IS a lot of non-book “stuff”.  I confess I haven’t bought a romance novel in a while, as my mother has enough to open her own romance-themed library - open a drawer/door/box, find romance books!

I’m not fond of the fact that I have to pay to park, as the BN is in a “big box mall”*, but I had to pay to park at the Borders anyway, and it isn’t outrageously expensive.

Have some (non-cafe) employees - the last time I went into a BN there was ONE cashier and ONE person at the customer service desk, with no one else in sight, and there were definitely customers in the store.

*Think Target, Barnes & Noble, Shop Rite (??), a 15-screen movie theater, and several smaller stores plus a few restaurants, all stacked atop one another.

couple97: Oh please, we have more than 97 around here!

Not sure which Borders or B&N is closest to home—they’re all 20-25 miles away, so they don’t get alot of traffic from me.  I hate to admit it but most of my book buying occurs either online via Amazon (almost entirely used paperbacks) and Target (for 25% off the cover price and only 5 miles away).  Home delivery or close proximity win every time….

Finally @ Corrinne; you certainly are lucky; you live in one of the most affluent counties in America. I know tons of people who live there! Yeah I bet they have wonder AMAZING libraries there (My own library is okay, but it faces Major budget cuts like every other library in existence.) If you had bothered to read the comments you would know thats hundreds of people in remote areas of the country don’t have access to AMAZING Libraries, rely on the big chain bookstores to find books rather than shop at Target/Walmart or shop on-line. (Lots of people like buying books in person for the same reason you like going to the library.) Try to moving to remote area and see if you don’t buy books. Not to mention if you lived in cheaper area of the country; you might be able to afford a few books.
I am so sorry if this is too snarky; but I am deeply offended by your comments that bookstores are obsolete, and the arrogance that comes from some who lives in one of the wealthiest places in country.

Relax, lady.  No offense (deep or otherwise) was intended.  As a matter of fact, I lived for seven years in one of the poorest rural mountain counties in the country (Pulaski) and was on welfare and food stamps myself (like half the county).  I had access to mediocre libraries, but still avoided the BAM and B&N down there.  Now, if you will note, I did mention that I am a single mother, so affluent I am not.  And also that I drive 45 minutes out (to the country) to buy books.  Maybe I should rephrase and say I think big chain bookstores are obsolete.  And everyone on this list has access to the internet, no?  Corporate America is no longer on the corner, it is in our homes and a hell of a lot more accessible.  I apologize for misrepresenting myself as a snobby rich girl, but I am the farthest thing from it, I promise you.  The end.

Back to the topic at hand, I like the ideas of book signings and M&Gs;.  The last two times I really went to Borders and B&N was for a Laurie Notaro book signing and the Deathly Hallows release (respectively).  That would draw me in for sure!

I have fond memories of the Borders that was catty-corner to the building where I worked in the 1990s.  It was just across the parking lot, so I’d always pop over there during my lunch break.  It was a great place to browse; I must have spent half my salary there—but it was the first time I’d been in a book store that was so much more than shelves of books.  We’re used to that now, but 20 or so years ago, a book store with a coffee shop, seating areas, smooth jazz piped in at a discreet volume, ambient lighting, and the sale of CDs & videos was something new.

I now live in a community where the closest Borders is about 40 miles away—I never go there.  We used to have a Waldenbooks in our mall, but it closed a year or so ago; it wasn’t very big (typical narrow mall bookstore), but it was the only bookstore within 25 miles.  Just recently, Books-A-Million opened in the same space (in fact, even the shelving material and layout looked identical to the Waldenbooks that had been there).  We do have a much larger Books-A-Million plus a Barnes & Noble Superstore in adjoining cities about 30 or so miles away.  Because of the long drive, I only shop them when I have a specific book in mind.

My Borders is closing and I’m heartbroken because I helped opened that store 15 years ago.  It looks like it’s Amazon for me now because I don’t like B&N and HPB’s selection is sketchy at best.

methods53 - that would be 53 ways my heart is breaking

My nearest independent bookstores are .8,.9 and 1 mile away in three directions. I am lucky and make it a point to patronize “my” stores while still using Amazon for ebooks and gifts for relatives.

I’m 50 miles from a B&N, 95 miles from a Borders (not one that is closing).  I found 2 in my state on the list, neither of which I knew existed before seeing the list.

There is technically an independent bookstore in my town.  They are very heavily focused on local authors, with a decided preference for non-fiction.  The nose goes up in the air with a decided sniff when I’ve asked about romance in the past.  The owner works nights at my employer for health insurance and guarantee income, and she’s the first one to complain about no one buying from her shop.  Since they have one small rack of science fiction & mystery, with the rest devoted to her pet authors, I don’t have a lot of sympathy.

We used to have a Hastings in town.  I agree with whoever said that the religion section was at least as large as the entire rest of the store.  It was very much targeted at a specific clientle, who in my community don’t tend to be heavy readers.

My husband & I have nooks that get about 98% of our new book purchase money.  I’ve picked up a couple things in paperback in the last year, and cookbooks have to be in print.

I shop mainly at my local Borders, about 5 minutes down the road. Luckily it is not on the list to be closed, although the 2nd closest Borders, about 20 miles away, is. They have been giving short shrift to romance lately, I feel. They moved the section to the back of the store. The series rack has shrunk and they don’t carry all the new releases of historicals. If they carried more, I would probably buy more. Still, it’s my best choice. There are no local independents, but there is a very large & new B&N an equal distance away. But Borders aways sucks me in with the rewards and those discount coupons they email almost every week. I am sorry for the people who are losing their local bookstore. I am very lucky because we also have a terrific library system.

Just want to add that my local Borders also really cut back on their music section a couple years ago, and they did away with the headphone stations where you could sample songs. I used to buy quite a few CDs there but rarely do anymore.  It was the sampling that drove my impulse purchases.  Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

We have gained bookstores in the past 10 years. We went from 1 Walden books (that closed) to A Barnes and Nobel, a Davis Kidd, a Books-a-Million and a Hastings. We still only have 1 UBS, but there is a large one only 30 miles away.

I don’t have a problem the toys and games, as long as their focus is on books.  I have to admit that I order through the stores to save on shipping and handleing and only if the local used bookstore I shop at can’t get it for me.  My biggest complaint is with the service.  They either judge you for reading romance, I have gotten several lectures or comments at my local B&N about my reading habits.  Whats even worse they don’t KNOW the books or genre I am asking about.  I would really like to go to a store and have the workers who actually know what I am talking about and NOT push the nook or there freaking membership card on me.

The good news is that my local Borders will stay open (for now).  The bad news is that a) the other two within 200 miles of me are closing and b) by “local” I mean some 30 miles out of my way which means I have to make a special trip out if I want to just browse for books.  A 33% Rewards discount on a single book isn’t really worth it considering how much gas I have to use to get there and back.  The Waldenbooks near my office closed last January, which broke my heart - I can’t tell you how often I’d go to the mall for a quick dinner, then spend the rest of the time before I had to leave for ballet class just browsing Waldenbooks to see what was new and intriguing.  The staff was friendly and the manager even knew me by name, I was there so much.  It’s been over a year and I still miss it.

There’s a B&N down the road from my office (and about 3 more within a 30-mile radius), but I hate it because the rewards program sucks ($25 a year for a measly 10% discount?  Um, NO) and like Sarah said, it’s all TOYS TOYS TOYS now.  Since I am not a child, have no children, and have no interest in children, I really don’t want to be surrounded by TOYS TOYS TOYS, especially not in a BOOKSTORE.  Even their music and DVD collection has gone steeply downhill beneath the onslaught of TOYS TOYS TOYS.  Walmart and Target both have books, but the selection is meager and mostly restricted to mainstream bestsellers, teen books (SO MANY @#*%$#@ VAMPIRES MAKE IT STOP), and “inspirational” (read: Christian) books, so that’s not much use either. The Walmarts in the lower-income areas of my region are even worse, because half the book space was carved away to become the check-cashing center, and one store even banished the books and magazines to a single narrow aisle in the very rear of the store, right next to the goldfish.

As for indie bookstores?  Well, there are two near my gym, but both mainly sell used books, plus one closes at 6 which doesn’t fit my schedule.  There’s also a really tiny store way downtown with an extremely limited selection in an area with exorbitant parking rates (I’m sorry, but I refuse to pay a fee to shop).  That’s pretty much it.  Books don’t seem to be a high priority in my corner of the world.

Luckily I have my Sony Touch.  At least I can still get e-books without having to drive to the outer edge of another city.  *sigh*  But I still miss the fun of wandering through a real live bookstore looking for that “must have” book.

keep69 - Oh, I’m not touching that one.

About five years ago my local Borders moved from a huge sprawling warehouse with tens of thousands of square feet into a tiny, cramped little corner of our mall. I stopped shopping there. I’d spend hours and hundreds of dollars at the big store, but when they downsized I found it came with it’s own set of difficulties. The parking was a nightmare, the floor plan was set up awkwardly and I got lost easily, and bookshelves were cramped together or 10 feet high to where I couldn’t reach. I visit maybe once a year.

But B. Dalton books and Walden books are now gone. Barnes and Noble has eliminated a buttload of books to make room for 20+ display tables for the Nook which sucks. Borders is a pain in the butt to shop at.

Now I go to the nearest Hastings which is about 3 miles away. It’s not a bad store, but they don’t have a very good selection of romance or scifi, and I find myself using my Barnes and Noble membership more online for exactly what Hastings doesn’t have in stock (and the free shipping helps). In fact I tracked my book purchases this last year and found that I but 95% of my books online because of the price and variety that is offered.

I’ve been with Barnes & Noble for a decade, and bookselling has definitely changed big time. I feel like online book sales are really the main factor in the downfall of brick-and-mortar sales. I can’t tell you how many times I lose sales to Amazon or even to our own company web site! People say they want a store where they can browse, but if they don’t buy the book from the store (because it’s cheaper online, which I totally get), that store ends up not restocking the item after it has been out for a certain amount of time, to make room for new releases. Stores end up putting in things like more toys & games to try to compensate. E-books, of course, just add to the problem—less store traffic. My co-workers and I are sad about the problems that Borders is having (even though it might mean more business) because we know people that might lose jobs, and it’s sad when there are less bookstores around in general. We trade business back and forth with the local Borders, because to me, it’s most important that a customer get a book when they need it.
People tend to forget that big evil corporations (not just indie bookstores) also employ people from their community, so less sales means less jobs.

Re: complaints about taking out the comfy chairs—I hear ya, but: those chairs were often taken by people who would sleep in them, spill coffee on them, use them to help steal books, and urinate in them. Yeah—believe me, as a bookseller, it’s okay that they’re gone.

I get all my books from the local Borders! And of course it is one of the ones being closed :( There are a couple of Barnes & Nobles nearby but it won’t be the same!

I wish Borders upper management could read this thread, and the one over at Dear Author. Maybe they’d learn something about why customers are being driven away in droves.

I can’t imagine sneering at someone over their reading choices. Half the time, when I’m cashing someone out, I’ll comment that I really like an author they’ve just purchased, or if they like Christine Feehan, maybe they’d also like JR Ward, or things like that.  I like books, and I like that people are reading, even if their choices aren’t to my personal taste.

@becca

We tried to tell them.  We tried to tell them Make Books were a bad idea, stalking customers was a bad idea, the CONSTANT goddamn Book Drives (seriously, we felt AWFUL about that shit, we really did) were a bad idea - they didn’t listen to us.  I had people write and call customer care and they eventually listened to the complaints about Make Books (that is, when Ron Marshall left and Mike Edwards declined to continue the practice), but not until the damage was done and morale was shot.

@redheadedgirl: I work at one of the surviving Borders. I remember the hated make book era all too well.  My first Christmas, I was supposed to “suggest” at the registers something like 5 or 6 additional items… it was silly, and I just didn’t do it. sure, my “numbers” stink, but for me this is a hobby job, not a livelihood (thank heavens!), so I don’t particularly care.  I’m glad to still have my job, but am not optimistic about how long that’ll be the case.

As a reader/writer/blogger/consumer, I would like to point out that I absolutely despise B&N. I won’t buy there ereader or no’thin from them. Last time I went there, it was a terrible experience.  They were the least helpful and had nothing that I was looking for.  On the other hand, my neighborhood Borders, which isn’t closing and I love them, has the friendliest service, and if anything, I walk out with more than I went in for because there is always a sale, or some bargain. I also buy crap, like moleskin journals because the pages are yellowed and I look really ‘writerly’ when I carry them. So, yeah, if my neighborhood Borders were to close, I would be devastated. Fortunately, only my mother’s, sister’s and two best friend’s stores are closing. This is a very sad day for Border’s fans and employees.

Island Books is my local bookstore, they are great!  Hopefully Borders can restructure and some folks can keep their jobs!

All the Borders in my area are staying open- both near home and by work.  I’m really surprised about one of them, because there is a Borders, BN and Borders Express within .5 miles of each other.  I was SURE the big box Borders was going to be gone there. 
I do most of my shopping online, but I am pretty split now between Borders and BN (depending on who has the better deal for what I’m looking for).  I love shopping at bookstores, but think that the idea of a big box store that stands alone is probably outdated.  The best bookstore I’ve been to is the Borders at my local mall, in a space converted from part of an old department store.  It’s spacious, but not cavernous; it has plenty of selection and great customer service.  No matter what I’m at the mall for, I always find an excuse to stop in there.  Ditto with the Borders Express at the mall by work.  Even if they don’t have the book, they are great about helping me either order it or pick it up at the big box store.
My book buying habits are changing, because I just got a Kobo reader.  Main reasons for purchasing it was price and simplicity.  With Calibre, I can buy my books from anywhere, so not tied to a particular store.

I haven’t had time to read all the comments, but I still wanted to leave mine…

Recently some friends and I decided to go in together to buy a new hardcover book to share.  I did a little online price search just to check and then went into B&N.  I was also picking up a book for a friend while I was there.  Imagine my surprise when I realized that the prices I’d seen online were for B&N ONLINE only.  Oops. 

I considered buying in store, since I’d had to ask a sales associate to help me find a book (it had been out a week, but all their copies were still “in back”).  In the end, I appologized for wasting her time and went home and bought online.  One book was $22.99 in the store and $12.49 online.  The other book was $16 in the store and $10 online.  I added a $2 totebag to my online cart and got free shipping. 

I’d like to support my brick and mortar store (even though it was annoying) but that’s a >$16 difference!  Well, $14 if you count the tote bag.  But even if I’d had to pay shipping I was still well ahead to buy from their online store. 

Also, I’ve read some comments about the toys already and I agree.  I hate toys in the bookstore.  I can’t tell you how many conversations I had that went “Grandma sent you that gift card to buy a *book* not a *Webkinz*”  Ugh.

My nearest Big Box Bookstore is Books-a-Million. The one I actually shop at is Bienville Books near work, although I get -some- things from Books-a-Million still. Generally when BB can’t lay hold on them, as has only happened a couple of times.

Both the Borders in my area are closing.  I’m very sorry for the employees and for the bookbuyers who lived near those stores.  We’ve still got an excellent large indie, a couple B&Ns;, four Half Price Books, a library system that’s hanging in there, and a smattering of specialty bookstores, however, so there’s still plenty of places to go if you want to browse books in person.

I’m trying to remember, though, when I was last in a bookstore.  It might have been one of those Borders, last August, because we had to cut through it to get from the parking lot to the Apple store, so of course we might as well look around and buy a couple books.  Since then—haven’t been in one, not even that great indie.  They’re all far enough away from my house and from my workplace that I have to make an intentional trip there, and usually I don’t have a big enough block of time to do that.

(What makes this particularly sad is that I work for a publisher….)

The closest stores to me are a used bookstore that has been in Mesquite, TX for as long as I can remember and a relatively new Borders, which is closing. I shop there sometimes, and it’s the store I came across Margaret Ronald’s urban fantasy books. I rely heavily on Amazon for recommendations, especially UF which is often mixed in with PNR, but there are gaps in the recommendation system. Now I don’t know where to go to fill those gaps, as the other store I went to maybe twice a year is also a closing Borders. Just a few weeks ago, the Blockbuster near my house closed down.

But the truth is, this is the result of buying online (often at cheaper prices), and renting through Netflix, VOD and Redbox. Amazon does get quite a bit of my book money, even though I tried to funnel some of it to Borders. If I hadn’t gotten a free student Prime account, I suspect Borders would’ve gotten more. Sometimes, at 3am, I want to order a book before I change my mind…and Amazon is there. *sighs sadly* So I blame me. :(

My nearest bookstore, big chain-wise are B&N and Borders. There’s two B&N, each about 10 minutes away, and a Borders about 12 minutes away. That’s traffic time, not actual time. I don’t go to them, though. Why? Because a) they’re expensive, b) usually limited in what’s stocked, and c) around heavily densed traffic. I live in the Atlanta suburbs. I don’t want to deal with traffic when I’m going to relax, which is what a bookstore is for me. Unlike others, I don’t mind the cafe feel. There are times when a coffee or pastry is welcome, namely when I’m going into low-sugar and I need to get a book with big print to read while I’m readjusting. (If I take the focus off myself, I seem to recover since I’m not as stressed.) Even if I have to read with one eye open only

I think the one thing I enjoy about Amazon is the 4-for-3 promotion. I’m not a casual reader. I read a ton of novels and it’s cheaper to get the fourth on a promo. With free shipping, it makes logical sense for me to avoid the evil traffic with a benefit. Perhaps with our paying 25/year, we could get some kind of similar promotion. I miss the stores like B. Daltons, which I grew up going up. Yes, corporation, but it always felt like the people remembered you. There’s something missing in the current system.

Actually, it reminds me of “You’ve Got Mail” when Meg Ryan is forced to close her store. If a big corp could figure out how to make a bookstore with appeal (and I don’t mind the other merch, either, since it usually keeps crying kids quiet) but with a sense of community. Engage the customers. Do something to keep drawing them back in.

The brilliant thing on Amazon is you have reviews, you have some kind of information on hand if you see a new book or author. Physical bookstores are missing that. Maybe have more employees versed in areas, like say, educational/study guide/reference so that when a customer (say me) says “I need help in Chemistry, where do I find the best options?” They’ll know. Because if you’re in an area full of schools and colleges, you’d expect them to at least have some kind of forum or feedback on what was more helpful. It seems to me that not everyone who works at the store knows the products - just a vague hand wave of quick show and run. For something like a book store, where you’re selling a particular product, you’d have to be have someone on staff that can answer questions.

My nearest bookstore is nearly an hour’s drive away in Savannah. There’s no Borders (although there USED to be, at one time, apparently, a Waldenbooks in one of the malls) but there are a Barnes & Noble and a Books-A-Million practically right next door to each other, and I’ve heard rumors of a bookstore of the used- and rare-books sort in the historic district (although I haven’t personally seen it.) Since I have to limit myself budget-wise, I tend to use my cell phone to take pictures on the rare occasion I’m at a place to actually buy books, then research the books online to figure out which ones I’m most likely to enjoy—and where I can buy them cheapest in order to get the most bang for my buck.

I remember when the Borders in London’s Oxford Street opened, and how huge and amazing it was.  Floors and floors of books, and even a cafe.  Other bookshops have those now, but at the time it was pretty cutting edge.  I also liked the depth of their stock - not just the latest one in a series, but all the others.  The kids’ section was also terrific, and I bought lots of gifts there.  But then Borders left the UK, as others have said above.  I work at Canary Wharf in London, where there are two smallish branches of Waterstone’s.  The one downstairs from my office has no romance section (I’m pretty sure they used to, but not any more.  However, this is a fairly male environment, so maybe they weren’t selling well).  Even the local library got rid of its romance section to another branch, but it was only category romance, which is cheap enough to buy on my Kindle, or through eHarlequin.  Plus I think I’d read everything they had in my favourite lines anyway.  Mostly I get books from the library, but if I buy anything it’s usually from amazon, either in hard copy (rarely) or Kindle.  I do use Waterstone’s for gifts, though, as I never trust amazon not to send something with a ding in the cover, and picking out my own copy means I can get a perfect one.  Amazon’s prices are inevitably lower, although Waterstone’s has a number of “3 for 2” tables with popular things on display, and if you happen to find three things you want then it works out about the same as getting them from amazon.  But I always feel slightly railroaded into buying three things if I want something on the table.  I suppose that’s why they do it ;-)

It’s so sad that all these people are going to loose their jobs.  But anything in print is an endangered species these days.  Books, newspapers, magazines…publishing as we knew it will never be the same.

That being said, I support independent bookstores like Posman’s Grand Central location, a wonderful indie with a fabulous, knowledgable and helpful staff ...especially in the romance section where i spend a GREAT deal of time.

All this talk about the biological fluids and/or pests attached to the comfy-chairs are totally ruining my bookstore ideals.  Next thing you know, we’ll be discussing bodily fluids in books, on books, over books..  AGHHHHH!!!! 

Reality?  I write fiction!  Fiction, I say.  Reality? What is this reality you speak of????

I guess I haven’t learned to hate our Barnes and Nobles yet.  It’s only about 5 miles from here, and I don’t mind the people who work there—very personable.  I still purchase books for my nook and less print simply because I prefer the format.  So a trip there is mostly for browsing.  When I do buy print, it’s typically non-fiction photography books—must be in full-size color.  Even color nook wouldn’t be able to do it justice.

However, I will say this for Barnes and Noble (and big box electronics stores for example).  If you don’t carry anything but what I can purchase at Wal-Mart, don’t expect me to buy anything.  Telling me “We can order it for you” is a huge turnoff.  I can order it for me too, and usually at a discount.

The Borders near me in MA is not closing thank god.  It was my favorite store.  I also have a local bookstore in town that i also love called Willow Books.  I love to walk in to both stores to browse, its comforting to me.  They both have a nook that sells coffee and snacks.  I can browse for a long time!

My nearest bigbox bookstore is a Books-A-Million and I can’t say that I’d recommend it to anyone.  Horrible organization and locked bathroom, wtf.  There might be something in the mall There is one tiny used/trade-in bookstore in town with a huge romance section (I’ve found several B. Small’s there) but last time I went there they were saying they were having cash flow problems and changing their trade-in policies.  Hopefully they can stay open.  The nearest Borders is an hour away and it (along with 3 others in that metro area) are on the list to close.  I haven’t been there forever so it won’t effect me much.

Borders stores, and their sister company Angus & Robertson, are closing in Australia, too. I have to say I’m a little conflicted, because I’m a fan of independent bookshops, but it doesn’t seem to bode well for smaller enterprises. I also feel a little guilty, because since joining my local library 3.5 years ago I’ve gone from buying >300 books/year (with a fair smattering of HB and small print run books) to <10 for personal use, with many of those bought online from Aus retailer fishpond.com.au, Book Depository or Amazon.

My closest bookshop is Readings, a small chain of excellently stocked stores around Melbourne. Their staff are knowledgeable, and they run regular (not free) sessions with well known authors - thanks to Readings I’ve heard Alain de Botton and Joanna Trollope. They also run the annual Mebourne Writer’s Festival. The shops tend to be crowded and a little cramped, with nowhere to sit if you’re older than 5.

My favourite bookshop is Reader’s Feast, in the city. They have comfy seats, a great range, very knowledgeable staff, and only book-related merchandise (eg DVD of book adaptations). They mail out a monthly newsletter of new releases and staff favourites, with reviews and an editorial. They also offer a free loyalty program, with twice-yearly vouchers of 10% of the value of what you’ve spent, and an additional reward if that was over $100 in a calendar year. Their romance section is fairly generous for a general bookshop.

For a wider range of romance I go to Rendezvous, also in Melbourne city - they’ve got a wide range and very knowledgeable staff, but the ambience is considerably more sterile since they moved from their Collins Street site several years ago.

What would bring me back to buying? My library has great cards by genre, with “If you like X, you’ll like…” and a list of twenty of more similar writers, many of whom I didn’t previously know.

Between browsing and blogs I’m rarely stuck for something new to read, but haivng well informed staff makes a huge difference, particularly for reluctant readers or those less familiar than I with all things bookish. And how about more community-based activities, like book groups?

I know it’s hypocritical, given my own shift in book buying, but I really fear the demise of bricks and mortar bookshops. And, reading other comments, dread the idea that the death of libraries some of you report could also drift south to us.

my closest is 45 minutes, maybe. I’m not sure if they have a bookstore in the neighboring town anymore or not. haven’t been over there in years. Beyond that, there’s a B&N about 70minutes away.

My bookstore is online.

Or walmart. Occasionally they do manage to have the book I want…but hardly ever on release day.

I’m not really smart or very knowledgeable when it comes to business management and it’s been quite a few years since my high school economics class…but the situation to me is that it is the time of the end of gluttonous mega stores and a chance for the return to Mom & Pop stores.  What happened to supply and demand?  Haven’t been seeing much of this for years; instead these huge companies have been shoveling the “We know better than you what you want and need,” and these are the same companies that have been bailed out and filing for bankruptcy.  I do feel bad though for the people who face job loss.

I agree less focus on the coffee/gift shop stuff would be good and more emphasis on books/writing/authors. 

Maybe try something like…well my son’s Nintendo DS and his Pokemon game for example.  Often at the local gaming store he can go in to the store and wirelessly download a special shiny pokemon and now since he’s there he’s looking around at the new games and usually ends up coming home with a newly purchased one.  Why not try something similar at the bookstores? 

Have a book signing where not only can the PB’s be bought and signed but the ereader owners could buy and dl a special signed copy of the author’s book? 

Or a weekly/monthly “New Authors on the Scene” freebie dl event, drawing people in and exposing them to authors they might not have tried beforehand and do this for all the different genres.

I’ve never actually been to a book signing, and I read lesser known authors more than I do the “A-Listers.” I’d be more likely to chortle with glee over getting a signed e-copy of Viola Grace, Morgan Hawke, Tymber Dalton, Selena Kitt, Theolyn Boese, Jet Mykles…than I would big name authors. 

What about cover artists?  Do they get chances to be spotlighted in bookstore signings?  I’d be curious enough to go see them and their artwork.  How about offering for purchase special signed cover art copies for dl?  How many of us would bolt for the bookstore if we knew we’d get to meet the model for Jaci Burton’s The Perfect Play and be able to dl a signed copy for a screensaver on our ereaders, show by a raise of hands….?

The closest bookstore to us is a B&N about 5 minutes away. There’s also a half-price bookstore about… 7 minutes or so away. The nearest independent is similarly 7 minutes away, but is solely rare books and high-brow. The nearest usable independent bookstore is… heck if I know where. Nowhere.

Our Borders stores all closed already, the nearest one now being about 40 minutes away. It’s slated for closing, so that will leave us without a Borders in our area.

I’d LOVE to have a good independent book store near me. Unfortunately, romance doesn’t seem to be high on the list of the independents around here. If I weren’t moving, I’d put serious thought into opening an independent book store focused on genre literature.

I hate B&N and wont shop there either in person or online. Thankfully their store near me closed years ago.  I am actually sandwiched between 2 Borders stores.  Both of them fairly large.  I have always loved Borders because of the same reasons you stated.  The staff were always down to earth and were genuine readers.  The stores were always comfortable and filled with books. 

Then something happened.  They started adding more extra’s to their stores and removing the comfy chairs.  Half of their downstairs is filled with “gift” items and not books.  There are also no chairs anymore.  They do have a coffee shop but its not the same as it once was when you could go have a sandwich and read now its more snacks and coffee.

I don’t shop in the store as much.  And I used to be there a few times a week.  I mostly rely on Amazon, I’m a prime member and the books are cheaper than buying at the store. 

What could they do to lure me back? Try going back to what they were.  A bookstore.  Bring back the comfy chairs, remove the music, gift and dvd section and bring in more authors and book signings.  I would pay more for the book if I got to meet the author.

We do have a Borders here (small town in Western Washington State), and yes, I shop there. It’s a pretty good store - good book selection, and not a lot of toys and other distractions. We’re sad that it’s closing. It’s been our go-to place for birthday party gifts - good kids’ books reasonably priced, and free wrapping!

There are two other books stores in town: a small independent and a used book store (owned by a friend of mine). I love both of them, but we’ll definitely miss Borders.

We’re also Kindle owners, so we get a lot of books online. And frequent library patrons as well.

So sad.  Border is my favorite bookstore and is also the nearest to me.  Judging by the PDF it looks like my store will stay open so that’s a bit of a relief. I feel badly for the patrons who will be inconvenienced the employees who will lose their jobs.

The Davis-Kidd bookstore here also closed recently.  I loved going there as much Borders.  I buy a lot of books online, but mostly used.  I always make a trip to the bookstore to buy new.  I really hope Borders rebounds because I only go to B&N if I can’t find what I want anywhere else.

My nearest bigbox bookstore is a Books-A-Million and I can’t say that I’d recommend it to anyone.  Horrible organization and locked bathroom, wtf.

I affectionately refer to Books-A-Million as The Fustercluck.  If you ever want to not find what you’re looking for, that’s your store.

Is it really wrong of me?  I felt a happy glow when I heard that the liquidation sale starts Saturday at the Borders near me.  Bargains!

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/investing/bankrupt-borders-makes-everyone-poorer-especially-authors/19847347/

a look at what this all might mean for mid-list authors.

We have a Borders, its the only bookstore in town—unless you include the UBS’.  I shop there, especially when the new books by my must read authors come out.  If it closes, I’ll either order from Amazon.com or go to the next county to their Borders.  (unless it closes).  Many of us are sorry to see Borders go, and have done our best to keep Borders going over the years.

The last place I lived was a teeny tiny college town with NO BOOKSTORES. NONE. In a COLLEGE town. That drove me nuts. I had to drive a couple towns over to get to the pathetic offering that is Books-a-Million (if I was desperate), even further for a B&N, and all the way to the nearest city for a (mall) Borders. It eats up gas to drive that much, lemme tell you. And so often no one had what I needed or wanted. I went from being a frequent bookstore visitor to having the store phone numbers programmed into my cell so that if I didn’t have a computer nearby I could just call and ask if it was worth my time and gas money to drive out.

Where I am NOW, however, there’s a glut. I’ve got several B&Ns; nearby and there’s still a couple Borders here and there. And yet, no matter how often I try to buy books at any of them, it seems like every time I go in there’s nothing I want to buy. I’ve gotten into the habit of keeping a long list of books I’d like to read in my purse so that if I end up at a bookstore during the day, I have several things to look for. But time and again I end up leaving empty-handed.

Sadly, I don’t even have the option of small, local shops since every type of business out here is a large chain so I inevitably end up buying all of my books on Amazon. I don’t mind Amazon. I certainly appreciate them for when I’m looking for obscure stuff. But sometimes I just want to go into a physical bookstore and find something I’d like to read, damnit!

I feel like online book sales are really the main factor in the downfall of brick-and-mortar sales. I can’t tell you how many times I lose sales to Amazon or even to our own company web site! People say they want a store where they can browse, but if they don’t buy the book from the store (because it’s cheaper online, which I totally get), that store ends up not restocking the item after it has been out for a certain amount of time, to make room for new releases. Stores end up putting in things like more toys & games to try to compensate. E-books, of course, just add to the problem—less store traffic.

Totally agree with A. We’ve done this to ourselves. Even when we realized what e-tailers were doing to our beloved bookstores, we didn’t change our behaviors back to in-person shopping. As a culture, we became addicted to the lowest price possible and became very good at ignoring the hidden cost. It makes me sad, but it’s hard to be angry at any one person. I think I mostly just feel resigned. A few small independents will be able to hang on, but this is the beginning of the end for bookstores in general. And what breaks my heart the most about that is the feeling that, at 30, I am a dinosaur. I love nothing more than the hours spent in a dedicated bookstore, but I now live in a world where my love has no place anymore.

Well.. don’t I feel bad. Maybe I am to blame for this, and others with similar book buying habits?

My nearest bookstore is right here, at home! Yes, Amazon or eBook retailers are my choice for buying books these days, or the kids book club from school. I do visit Barnes and Noble from time to time, for a coffee. But 9 times out of 10, the kids never find what they are looking for—hence rarely going in to an actual book shop anymore. At least at Amazon, the chances are, they’ll have what you’re looking for.

I stopped shopping at Borders when they completely redid their rewards program. It used to be that a percentage of your purchase was put into your account and you had from November through January to use that amount toward purchases. Considering I would routinely have $60 - $100 accrued, it gave me an incentive to shop there vs ordering on-line from Amazon.
Today, I shop primarily at Amazon. B&N and Borders are fairly close to my house, but I find that they don’t stock new releases of my fav authors… even those on the NY Times bestseller list, until later in the evening or the next day! (If they stock them at all.) They also don’t carry back list, so I usually have to go to Amazon for those anyway. I only know of one local indie, and they don’t have a very big selection of romance.  (And sales tax being insanely high also curbs the local purchases… 9.75%)

I have a Borders near me, it’s the only chain bookstore in our area. It’s about 10 miles from my house, give or take. I rarely shop there unless I have a good coupon because they’re just too expensive compared to Amazon. I once worked for Walden Books, a division of Borders, and the whole focus at that time was on pushing the Preferred Readers club. They did away with that for a while, but now they’re back to pushing the new Borders Club membership. We were told that if we didn’t sell a certain number of memberships, we could be let go. I don’t know if that is still the practice for the new club membership, but it was very stressful.

I’ll buy new paperbacks from Borders because the prices are similar to Amazon, but even at 40% off, I find their hardcover books to be much higher in cost than Amazon.

My closest bookstore: B and N - closed over a year ago (there is a Trader Joe’s now). I would walk my dog over to that store most afternoons for a break from work. They gave him a treat, and I ogled the books and magazines. Sometimes I bought books, sometimes not. It was worth the $25 for the membership.
Their rent went up 500%.
They abandoned the space since they have other stores very close by (within 15 minutes walk).
The Union Square Manhattan store not only puts the romances in the tiny back aisle as mentioned, they store extra folding chairs in that aisle. Also the store is full of young people trying to find a date. They clog the store on the weekends so that it is just not pleasant.
The 5th ave location that is very old won’t allow the dog in. Never mind that all of the other locations do. I find it stuffy in there.
Borders Penn Station will stay open. They are a complete madhouse at all times and you practically have to hit someone to get to sit while sipping a coffee. (Hockey fans hit back, be careful on game nights - they bring their take-out dinners there.) The store had a flood over the sci/fi, romance and mystery sections which caused months of unrest. I got out of the habit of going over there.
Borders was not as good at providing me with ebooks from the time I bought my iPod, so I haven’t used them. I don’t order books online, but I buy ebooks like a fiend. I have recently special ordered two books from the Japanese bookstore near Bryant Park, they were in quickly and everyone was pleasant.
I don’t ever buy books through amazon because I am still mad at them for what they did to mobipocket. I have recently purchased books at my grandmother’s using her wireless and my iPod so I could read them right away. No bookstore can beat that.
There are independent bookstores around, but they are usually issue-oriented and very low on recreational reading. The rows of used bookstores are gone, there are two left in a half hour walk of my house - Strand (which I should go visit right this minute now that I think about it) and one that makes me allergic before I have been inside for 5 minutes. The dust is really bad, the books are unreadable for a day or two after being in the store.
My library is one block away and has limited hours. But the Mid-Manhattan is available and they are open to 11 Monday through Thursday. 11 pm.
I love going to the library that late at night. The staff gets time to actually straighten up the shelves by the end of the night, since the flow of traffic is lessened. I wish every library had late hours and a decent budget, but I do prefer having one library with late hours and the rest on limited hours instead of allocating more money to the smaller branches. Many people order books from within the system and pick them up at their local branch - similar to ordering your books through your local bookstore - but I like to read the shelves, see what was recently returned, see what the staff recommends or features. They do some ebooks, and the selection that I can actually use seems to be getting better.

As time goes on and the industry moves toward ebooks, there will still be a time and place for browsing. My bookstores have made it unpleasant in the real world, so most of my physical browsing has to be at the library.

I have a Borders in the ground floor of my office building (100 Broadway, NYC). I find it pretty useless for my needs. Many of the books I want are not carried there. When they do have a book I want, the price is 40-60% higher than on Amazon (typical $27 non-bestselling hardcover runs $15 on Amazon, $25 at Borders).

I’ve been primarily buying books from Amazon since 1997, then have switched largely to digital books (via Kindle and now iPad) for the past year or two.

When my daughter was younger, she liked Borders (and B&N as well). Now, age 11, she goes to B&N to browse, then buys them in eBook form on the Kindle. It reminds me of when I was 20 and would go to B&N to find books I wanted, then go to the Strand (best NYC bookstore) and search for the 1/2 price reviewer copies. My 11-y-o asked me a few weeks ago “if people browse at B&N and Borders, then buy on their Kindle or iPad, how do they stay in business?” Smart girl, my daughter.

The truth is that Borders has been asleep at the wheel, refusing to adapt during the most dynamic period in the history of book retailers. They drove the indy booksellers out of business in the 90s, then put their heads in the sand.

I think there may be room for someone to fill a small part of that niche (especially around children’s books) but for many of us, brick & mortar bookstores add little value and are obsolete.

BTW - I published on my blog the emailthat Borders CEO Mike Edwards should have written:
http://www.contentmatters.info/content_matters/2011/02/a-letter-from-the-borders-ceo-truth-serum-edition.html

Reading these comments, many of which mourn the lack of romance selections in their bookstore, makes me wonder why someone doesn’t jump on the idea of opening up romance oriented bookstores. We always hear that romance sells better than any other genre; romance readers are very passionate (heh) book buyers; other genre-oriented bookstores succeed (mystery, sci-fi, Christian) - am I nuts to think that if someone opened up romance-oriented bookstore(s), it would work?

I wish I had the money to give it a try.

Thankfully, the four Borders that I frequent are still going to be open!  Yes!  I don’t have an e-reader and now that my old laptop has died, no access to my ebooks either.  I want to browse; I need to feel the books in my hands.  ebooks are fine for regular reading (to lessen the TBR piles I already have), but for keepers, I want a paper book.  Plus, my local Borders has the best cafe setup; my boyfriend loves to peruse periodicals while drinking his latte (while I go shop for books).  The local Barnes & Noble’s cafe setup isn’t that great.  Also, since my book purchases are either Romance, Sci-fi/Fantasy or Children’s, good luck trying to find all that in an indie bookstore (although I do love a couple of indies - but one is 65 miles away).  I rather not shop at Amazon for books, not when I get coupons from Borders and as a Borders Plus member, I don’t pay shipping.  I do shop at Amazon occasionally but not generally for books.

I suppose if more bookstores close, I’ll have to get the local library to buy the (non-keeper) books I want to read…

Interestingly, one of the ideas from the panel on bookselling in the 21st century was suggested by the gentleman from BookTour, who challenged booksellers to identify what it is that they do in addition to selling books. What makes you special, ASIDE from “You sell books.”

The larger book stores can do what most of the surviving independents (and libraries) do to stay in business: provide excellent customer service by employing people who actually READ! A variety of people who read a variety of genres and can give good recommendations for read-alikes and new authors and hidden treasures. All chain stores, book stores, online stores, libraries carry many of the same titles. Next to price, personalized service is the key to being competitive in the business world these days.

don’t get cocky about stores near you staying open. Apparently there’s an additional list of 125 stores, 75 of which may close after 30 days or so. Nobody seems to know which ones are on that list, however.

I can’t sign on the ‘we did this to ourselves’ bandwagon because that was EXACTLY what was wrong with Borders business model and it is EXACTLY what is wrong with Agency pricing.

We do not owe anyone our custom. I shop many independent stores because they offer me something to offset the higher price. None of them are book stores. Borders made several bad choices that led directly to their downfall, and that is on their corporate team.

When I had a Waldenbooks, I had personal service a fair frequent buyer program, and staff willing to hold my purchases to be certain they didn’t sell through before I came in. When they closed it and I had to shop at Borders I had no personalized service. I had no hold option. I had a punitive reward system. I did not cause them to fail, they stopped wanting my business. I got tired of driving an extra 45 minutes to find the books i wanted out of stock. I bought from Target and Amazon.

The indies near me neither carried romance nor were willing to order it. They closed. I still spend absurd amounts of money on media. I give it to the stores that don’t make me beg for it. I don’t use B&N or BAM, if I want ratty, coffee stained material, I’ll hit a garage sale.

Hmm, the Daily Finance article Becca linked to @8:35 am is enlightening. I didn’t know they had stopped paying their publishers. I guess that’s why I couldn’t find the new Elizabeth Hoyt release in my local Borders. I’ve looked for it there at least 3x this month. In the meantime, my turn came up on the paperbackswap wishlist, so I guess I just saved some money. Usually I like to buy my favorite authors as soon as the book is released. I know if it’s not a keeper I can easily trade it at paperbackswap and get an older book that’s out of print or hard to find.

Oh no - my Borders is the second one on the list of closing stores!

I used to live just a few blocks from the store, and I was in there every week, buying at least one book (sometimes several).  Now, there’s nothing within walking distance, so I buy most of my books on Amazon.  We do drive to St. Vincent de Paul every few weeks, where you can get paperbacks for 65 cents, or to Half Price books (where sometimes the prices are not half!).

What would get me into a bookstore?  Being within walking distance of my house would be enough…that, and not having mean staff.  I don’t know if I look like a criminal or what, but I am constantly being hovered over wherever I go, and this makes it difficult to browse in peace!

I’m one of the unlucky Borders employees who will lose her job. I want to say it gives me warm feelings reading all the nice things y’all have said about the staff. Most of us are here because we love books.

I just want to give a shoutout to redheadedgirl and the other Borders people past and present. Know that you did make a difference.

And, I can tell you that the managerial missteps of the company were pretty awful- this didn’t just happen, this was a very long time in coming.  It sucks, because the people who are going to pay for this mistake- the ground level employees and the customers- aren’t the ones who made them.  We hear about the bonuses the execs get, and it’s disgusting that they’re getting a windfall while the bills aren’t getting paid.

Most of the people making these decisions were retail people, used to merchandising purses and not book people. They didn’t understand the customer and they didn’t understand us either. Most of us have seen this coming and while we are sad we aren’t surprised.

@quichepup: Don’t forget the grocery store people, who saw books as interchangeable as cans of soup.

I haven’t been to the Borders downtown since major construction started on the roads getting there, but there wasn’t much of a reason to go before then—if you were interested in a UK author other than J.K. Rowling, you were met with blank stares—though I am sorry to see anyone losing their job.

The last paper book I purchased was a comprehensive examination of the orchestral scores for The Lord of the Rings films, as a gift; e-books comprise the majority of my purchases, as I have serious visual limitations that adaptive software lets me ignore for a little while.

Browsing is something I miss and long for, but I am resigned to the fact that in most cases I’m not going to be able to read anything I’ve pulled off the shelf.

it’s interesting because today Angus and Robertson/Borders announced closures in Australia too - but although some of the GFC effects and some of the managerial stuff that was having an affect on the US closure, for Australia, I believe, the biggest cause would have been the publishing laws. We have to buy australian published books that cost double the amount of overseas books and subsequently people have been buying books online overseas like from the bookdepository. Ebooks (namely because of the publishing laws and the territory thingy that makes near impossible to buy ebooks in the first place) only account for 1% of the market in Australia (SMH, 17-2-2011).

Anyway I was wondering since I’m relatively new to ebooks (and as mentioned back in Aus its pretty limited) are there bookstores that let you buy books online through their bricks and mortar shop. Cos as I mentioned before I love browsing through bookstores but I cannot at this moment afford to buy physical books cos i don’t have the space. But if I could browse, select books take them to the counter, pay and have the ebook loaded into my account - and if the sale was somehow attributed to the book store rather than the overall “mass online” store - that may help. And you could still have the lovely sales people (preferably only the lovely sales people and not the cranky ones that look down on you) help you and make recomendations and to read the first couple of chapters etc. I dun kno - is that practical. I guess would people use it? But it would be nicer than doing what i did the other day which was browse through borders listed a few books that looked good, went home, jumped online and ordered the books. - Which i couldn’t even buy from borders because i’ve only just moved to the states and don’t have a US account yet *rolls eyes* Whereas if they had that option i could have bought the book there and paid in either cash or debit account and hopefully some of the sale would have gone back to the seller. (I dun kno anything about marketing, sales, economics - so if this sounds crazy i appologise)