sad news from Borders

today i went into my emails to find two from Borders......they are closing ALL their stores. I wrote their customer service to see if this included the.com site. i have a feeling its that as well. i hope its not but i think it is.
one email said they'd been in business over 40 yrs. I started going to their original store in Ann Arbor back in 78..about 5 yrs or so into the business. i remember it being an eccletic little store where you could get just about anything.
just a week or so ago i ordered two dvds (a major splurge but they were cheap,free shipping and a coupon!)...i got one yesterday and the other should be here by Mon. Borders was my big source for Doctor Who and the other boioks and dvds i read and watch that nobody else seems to have. its gonna be a big loss...bigger than the walk in bookstores here closing!

so...does anyone else have any stories about borders to share?

I had preordered a book back in April that won't be released until next week. I hope they will honor preorders, esp the ones that were made months ago.

we got the news the other day that Borders was liquidating and filing bankrupsy, closing all their remaining stores. They could not find a buyer.



I will miss them very much. I always found them homier than Barnes and Noble

The Borders at the World Trade Center (destroyed on 9/11)was my home away from home. I would stop there practically every night, grab a magazine or two and head over to the childrens section, with its comfortable window seats and just chill for an hour or two before getting the train home. I also attended many book signings and performances there.

I'll miss the Borders stores here as well. Unfortunately, it seems unavoidable in these days of internet shopping and tablet reading. Just look at what's happening to the local newspaper.

Borders was the closest bookstore to my house...and now they are going to leave.

I used to hang out there and loved it. Lots of newspapers from all over the country.
Very homey and the staff was wonderful.

i spent every Sat for years at the Borders when i was in TX. i met a lot of people i called friends there and drank some great tea and coffee and ate some great baked goods. they had a barista there who had studied culinary arts and made her own creations. it was a home away from home complete with two floors ....just like home:)(well...like a dream home!)

I did most of my book/magazine/ shopping at Borders---and some dvd shopping (some of their coupons made them cheaper than getting them from my former place of employment). The staff was great, and just this week, they took down the Borders sign from my former local Borders. Though I am adjusting to B&N okay. I used to go to the Borders at Warner Center in NYC whenever I was in NY.

BobCat wrote:I'll miss the Borders stores here as well. Unfortunately, it seems unavoidable in these days of internet shopping and tablet reading. Just look at what's happening to the local newspaper.

Not only that but the crappy economy cutting into people's budgets along with with the price of living going up and up. Hard to buy books if you can't afford the gas to get to work (if you even have a job) or food on the table.

fiffur wrote:
Not only that but the crappy economy cutting into people's budgets along with with the price of living going up and up. Hard to buy books if you can't afford the gas to get to work (if you even have a job) or food on the table.

The saving grace for ebooks is that books are frequently cheaper---but comic strip books are still better as books!!!

i keep hearing Video Killed the Radio Star in my head. those videos didn't kill radio and ebooks will never kill paper bound books. there will always be people who like to hold something in their hands and turn the page.
the other day i saw a news piece on the net about how indie book stores are making a come back. i guess the big stores can't make it but maybe a little hole i the wall local store might be the right fit.
i know that if i had the bucks there are several places here in town ....right on my walk home...that would make great small book stores.....books, mags, papers and a little corner for a tea and coffee bar. actually, sort of like how Borders started but bookstores didn't serve drinks back then!

I agree Jeane, there are places like half price and the small bookstores are carving out
a niche that they never really lost.

Whenever there's a book that I want, I try Half Price Books first. Sometimes they have a book that I want and sometimes not. That is also where I have gotten almost of the audio books I bought. I have also sold most of the audio books to when I'm done with them.

Half Price was where i got almost all my Target (publishing co...not the store:) )Doctor Who books. (gawd i miss books like that...they were easy to handle and cheap enough to collect...the new Doctor Whos are all hard cover and expensive!)

jeanebellini wrote:Half Price was where i got almost all my Target (publishing co...not the store:) )Doctor Who books. (gawd i miss books like that...they were easy to handle and cheap enough to collect...the new Doctor Whos are all hard cover and expensive!)

''

I've seen the newer titles at Half Price, on occasion.

i've tried to find them at the Strand but found nothing....but then that's not half price;)

I wish they had Half Price here.
I like the fact that the indie book shops seem to be coming back. I see many popping up in neighborhoods. Just not My neighborhood.

i remember when i was in TX there was an area of the city we called "the village' and it had not only a half price but a mystery bookstore and a sci fi store! i got all my back issues of Doctor Who magazine and a Sylvester McCoy Tardis set there! (I saved for a year to be able to afford that thing!)

there used to be several sci fi stores in New York, a couple in the Village, one on chambers street. where you could get second hasnd books and magazines, etcThe only one of the old guard left is forbidden planet, and noew we have midtown comics and jim hanleys, where you can get a bunch of Dr Who stuff but you ar paying full price or more on alot of the stuff.
I
I heard that they made a last ditch effort to keep a small amount of well performing borders open but it fell through

jeane, I'll keep an eye out for the newer books at my local HP store. Do you have any of the titles? And are you partial to CE, DT or MS?