No Borders
A Friday night in the Winter of 1996, hanging out with the gang in Pete's basement, we'd already had band practice and watched the same skateboarding video for the 100th time, what next? I know - let's hit up Borders. Borders wasn't a store then, it was a hang out - we'd stand in the magazine aisle for hours reading all the band interviews (and occasionally buy a CD), not to mention probably run into other friends from school. I don't usually mourn the loss of a chain store, but I'd be lying to say I'm not nostalgic about the Montrose Borders. Yesterday I decided to head over there to check out there store clearance sale(30-50% off)...and maybe more so to say goodbye.
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By Tim Fitzwater - Tuesday, March 02, 2010
22 Comments:
Didn't know they were closing. The Internet giveth, and the Internet taketh away.
I think more than likely B & N and realistic pricing taketh away. I did love that Borders, but the prices were beyond insane.
I think I bought my first 4 cds there: Wu-Tang Clan - 36 Chambers of Death, Ice Cube - Lethal Injection, Enigma - The Cross of Change, and some chanting monks (as a gift). That was like 93' or 94' and may have been the last time I bought cds at Borders.
I'm no expert, but Barnes & Noble is a complete joke when it comes to selection. Borders was packed with books, while B&N's biggest commodity seems to be their atrium.
As far as price, the last book I bought at B&N (with a gift certificate) was priced at the retail number and it took me an hour to find something worth buying.
Amazon did Borders in if anybody did.
Mencken,
I am not fan of B&N (not even close), but they are way, way cheaper than Borders was. Look how many cars are in the parking lot every day. I am sure internet/Amazon had a lot to do with it, but I buy most of my CDs/books at Target. They sell things for realistic prices and Borders pretty much smashed your dick in on CDs and anything else. I am waiting for the 85% off sale to start, so I can actually pay retail value for some stuff there. If they would have got a clue not to price new movies and cds at like 250% true market value they might still be in business.
I never noticed high prices at Borders. But the only time I bought books there was if I was getting a new release - which were always 30% off.
Also for the record - Borders isn't going out of business - Montrose Borders and a few others are closing.
I believe it is mainly the internet.
Tim,
Montrose is going first, but Borders is slowly but surely going out of business. This "restructuring" is the last gasp effort to stay in business. They should all be closing by the end of the year. I really disagree with you guys about the internet being the main reason. Why is B&N always busy? Lower prices, STARBUCKS and the brand name.
Speaking for the Montrose Borders, they are in a really bad plaza that is practically vacant. Barnes and Nobles is in the center of the action and is much more visible.
@Chief,
Are you aware that you looking very similar to the FBI guy on White Collar? I just started watching the show and you look just like him. Check it out if you have not already.
Maybe you're right - its probably both. My girlfriend bought me books this Christmas from Amazon that a year or two before she definitely would have bought from a Borders or B & N.
Its interesting - as I've talked to people since the closing was announced - I find the majority like Borders better than B&N - but that anecdotal.
Does anyone find it interesting though that to the 50's teen I guess there was the Soda Fountain, or the 80's was an arcade to my generation was a Montrose Borders?
What's the current teen hang out? Facebook?
If not for the internet, then I dare say that Montrose could support two chain bookstores. However, and thank god for it, there is an internet. So there is only enough business for one bookstore in Montrose. So B&N and the internet did them in.
tim,
I have 2 young(er) sisters and they always hang out at B & N Starbucks and the regular Starbucks...sad to say, but that is the preferred hangout for current teen girls. I tried to steer them to Borders long ago and it failed. sigh.
In '96 I bought all the NME and Brit music mags that didn't break the bank. Sad to see it go. There's always Chapel Hill:)
Sorry, but the most devastating literary loss is that of the book stores at Summit Mall. It used to be that you could go to the book store in the mall while your wife got a hair cut, now you have to cross the street to the Winking Lizard for a beer. I'm not sure which is more enlightening.
Most music stores died years ago because of Walmart, BestBuy, and Target (RIP. Now bigger bands release strictly at those retailers with bonus tracks to attract customers. iTunes does the same thing, and I can find more of a selection via iTunes (w/o having any waste).
Amazon (and eventually their Kindle) is doing the same thing. Pulling people away because of the ease. The Kindle is scary for publishers since you can get some books at a cheap price. They struggle to fight Amazon because of their percentage of sales. I'm curious to see how this plays out due to the difference in prices per book.
I am not a reader, so its not attractive for me to go and browse a bookstore. Why take the risk of popping in and being out of stock of what I am looking for when I know I can find it at Amazon, or at least on-line.
Look, I get the attraction and nostalgia. I too walked the magazine isles, and put the head phones on when I saw a band I liked playing at the little stations in the music area. Now, for me, its all about convenience.
McGeady
Border's CD prices were fierce(seemingly everything was $19.99), but in those early days their good selection gave me an alternative to driving to the record stores on the west side of Cleveland, as I'm sure Tim and friends can concur.
Sad to see it go- almost as sad as when Riviera Lanes deconstructed my safehaven, the game room, only to use it for storage.
Look out for Hobby Lobby, the next big-name tenant in that plaza. If you're not familiar, it's like a Wal Mart approach to Michael's or Pat Catans.
amazon is broders stupid
??
The reason the CD's were so expensive was - they were stolen like crazy. Borders has such a high percentage of shrinkage ( theft ) that between the years I worked their they could have open 12 new stores with just the money stolen from them. The truth is BnN did it right with advertising and getting on the Starbucks train at the right time.
Borders will be going out business as a whole come April. there is a loan for 36 million ( I think that is the right amount ) that is due the first of April.
It will be a sad day.
remember pickwick books? borders and was one of the final nails in its coffin. i think borders lack of escalators did it in.
is it worth coming to Montrose and Kelso as stop off points on our way hoe from York?
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