

Borders file for bankruptcy - fuzzythinker
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17404272

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fuzzythinker
Besides their premature international expansions, its biggest mistake I
believe was closing its own online store and use Amazon for over 8 years. I
mean maybe they weren't savvy enough to understand online presence at first,
but it took them 8+ years to finally figure that out?

~~~
rst
That's certainly one of them. But even in the physical book business, they
were falling behind --- their inventory control systems were state of the art
in the mid-1990s, but B&N leapfrogged them, while Borders management instead
spent money on remodels and improved cafeterias, and trying to bring in other
lines of merchandise. (It didn't help that the executives responsible for this
came from retail operations like Linens n Things, and didn't know much about
selling books.)

More from a literary agent:

[1] [http://brilligblogger.blogspot.com/2010/12/borders-post-
mort...](http://brilligblogger.blogspot.com/2010/12/borders-post-mortem.html)

[2] [http://brilligblogger.blogspot.com/2010/12/cold-
equations.ht...](http://brilligblogger.blogspot.com/2010/12/cold-
equations.html)

~~~
duck
I moved to place with no B&N close by and as much as I enjoy going to a
bookstore I refuse to go to Borders cause it is such a lost cause to find a
single book you are interested in there. It is just night and day difference
browsing between the two stores.

~~~
colomon
What sort of books are you looking for?! I've got my share of complaints about
Borders, and they certainly didn't always have the particular book I was
looking for, but I don't think I've ever gone to one where that had absolutely
no books I was interested in. Usually the problem is not spending too much
money.

And I've definitely never noticed B&N to be any better on that front. When I
had a choice, I'd almost always go to Borders first, unless I was already in
the B&N parking lot for something else.

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reedF211
This is depressing. I know nothing beats the convenience of Amazon and Audible
but browsing through a bookstore is an experience which just can't be
replicated online... oh well.

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daimyoyo
I'd said before(and still believe today) that the best option for Borders is
to be aquired by Amazon. Then you could browse the stores and sample what you
wanted before you bought it. They could do in store promotions unique to each
store and when you ordered from them, you could ship it to your local store
free the same way that Wal-Mart does now. Also, you could pay cash in store or
use your Amazon account to check out. It's a perfect fit IMHO.

~~~
vomjom
That would never happen.

The problem is that Amazon has no operations in certain states to avoid
charging sales tax. Buying Borders would put them in every state.

~~~
InclinedPlane
Integrating the amazon web store with Borders would put them in every state.
Conceivably they could still buy Borders and operate it as a subsidiary
without having it affect amazon.com's ability to operate without having to pay
sales taxes in every state.

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ConceptDog
Get used to this. Borders is clearly just the weakest of the pack. Lots of
book stores have tried to diversify into markets they don't understand to try
to compete. Culturally, they can't handle amazon or apple working in their
space.

As tablets and phones drop to the 300 / 150 range respectively, bookstores are
going to go the way of music stores in the very near future. B&N has a great
chance right now with Nook Color. They should drop the e-reader only aspect
and launch a fully supported android device with a kick ass e-reader in it.

Lots of people root their Nooks and turn them into good tablets, B&N could pop
out a basic tablet at $250 right now and eat a huge chunk of the market that's
going to appear near the end of the year.

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cafard
Borders was a revelation when it came to the Washington, DC, area. There were
decent bookstores here already--at least a couple of which it helped kill--but
nobody else had that stock and that range of subjects. Maybe at the Maryland
Book Exchange in College Park you could have found _Transaction Processing:
Principles and Techniques_ at one end and literature and history at the other,
but nowhere else that I can think of.

There are still independent bookstores hanging on here. Reiters has technical
and scientific books, squeezed down though from what it was. Bridge Street
Books on the edge of Georgetown, Kramerbooks at Dupont Circle, and Politics
and Prose out Connecticut Ave. all seem to be doing ok.

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btilly
What is happening with the books in the stores? That's what I'd like to know.

I'll have to wander over to one that is closing tomorrow and ask.

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greattypo
Bankruptcy != closing down

See: tribune company, gm, chrysler, delta, us airways..

~~~
btilly
The article linked to
[http://www.bordersreorganization.com/Reorganization_Closure_...](http://www.bordersreorganization.com/Reorganization_Closure_List.pdf)
which is a list of stores that they are planning to close. Two on that list
are reasonably near me. Presumably _something_ needs to happen with the books
in the soon to be closed stores. Frequently in that kind of situation they are
sold at a considerable discount, and if that is the case then I would like to
take advantage of it.

~~~
throw_away
Brick & mortar bookstores usually have contracts that stipulate if the books
don't sell, they can return the books for more or less a complete refund. The
books you see with considerable discount are often those taken back by the
publisher and then sent back out as 80-90% off. Softcovers aren't even
returned--- the bookseller just rips off the covers and sends those back to
minimize shipping costs. In high school, I worked in a B. Daltons (a now
defunct Barnes and Nobles subsidiary) and it made me sad when I was tasked
with tearing up a cart or two of books every few months.

I imagine the inventory will either be returned, destroyed or else shifted to
their still remaining stores rather than a circuit-city-style liquidation
sale.

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kjhgfhjkhgfv
The world changes, there isn't enough market in high street bookstores wedged
between small local bookshops that also sell used and Amazon or supermarkets
on the other.

If bookshops can't make enough $/sq ft then another type of store will move
in.

~~~
tomjen3
What makes you think other stores are going to be better of?

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michaelpinto
First it was the record shops. Next it was the video rental stores. It seems
odd when you think about it that it wasn't the book stores first?

~~~
tomjen3
Not really. Physical books are fundamentally different from their digital
counterpart in a way that records are not.

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InclinedPlane
Wow, you'd think this was the end of all physical bookstores. People should
calm down.

First, other retail bookstores still exist. Barnes and Noble is doing just
fine, for example.

Second, used bookstores are doing pretty well actually. And with the ability
to sell their inventory online through amazon, alibris, half.com etc. a lot of
used bookstores are seeing a renaissance.

If you want to keep your favorite local bookstore in business I suggest paying
them a visit and buying a book.

~~~
wccrawford
Borders was a pretty big piece of the B&M book market, and a lot of us have
fond memories of the place. It doesn't surprise me that people are freaking
out.

When Waldenbooks went downhill, I was pretty sad about that. I spent a lot of
time in that store. After that, I didn't bother getting attached to any of the
others.

And to be honest, since Amazon, I haven't spent much time in a B&M book store.
It's just so much cheaper and easier to order online, and quite a few of their
books let you peak inside them as well. (Not that I had much luck picking good
books from bad by peaking in them in the store anyhow.)

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aneth
I'm going to have to explain to my children what a bookstore was. Sad, because
I'm not sure anything can replicate that feeling of being surrounded by
knowledge and stories or browsing aisles of obscure magazines. Neither I
suppose could anything replicate riding a horse down Market Street or jumping
on a ship departing from from Pacific Street.

~~~
colomon
Errr... libraries? (at least for being surrounded by knowledge and stories)

