Borders filing Chapter 11 on Monday or Tuesday

[IDoDis]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704329104576138353865644420.html

This so sad! They will be closing a few hundred stores across the country. I hope the one by our house isn't one of them. They should have gotten on the digital book wagon a long time ago.

There was a discussion about this on The Dis recently where I said Borders was getting close to bankruptcy, and others didn't think so. I gave them 2 years max. Wow, I was way off!

Borders Rewards members -- go spend your 40% off emailed coupon tomorrow.

 

[Missy1961]

I had a feeling this was going to happen. They used to have a really good free frequent buyer program, but lately they have been pushing their pay for discount program. I just didn't want to pay for it, and now I am really glad I didn't.

News like this always makes me sad, and this makes me really sad. I love Borders and bookstores, I could spend hours browsing in them.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Ugh. This makes me feel really guilty for buying my Kindle

 

[VAfamily1998]

Yeah, someone on one of my local message boards mentioned something about the Borders in the next city "going under"


I wonder if they know that store is going to be one of the ones Borders will close?

 

[EveDallas]

This doesn't surprise me. The Borders near me is far inferior to Barnes and Noble.

 

[Imzadi]

This doesn't surprise me. The Borders near me is far inferior to Barnes and Noble.

Same here. ALL our B&N stores have created sections and cubby holes where people can just sit and read, then eventually buy the book to finish up at home. Our Borders never seemed to have caught onto that. Their cafes were also not as good. And them not jumping on the eReader technology, PLUS when you actually go to download an eBook the website is screwed up, so downloads are unreliable, it's just too many areas they've been behind the times about.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I honestly prefer the atmosphere at our Borders to our Barnes and Noble. The only problem is that my area has ONE Borders and 3 or 4 Barnes and Noble, including one about 3 miles from my home.

Somehow, this news doesn't surprise me.

 

[Planogirl]

Our nearby Borders has places to sit but the store is always empty. It's a shame.

I wonder about this desire to order everything nowadays. I paid for two day shipping for two books last Sunday. I'm still waiting for UPS to deliver them. I dislike the postal service, UPS and all the rest. The way things are going we'll eventually be dependent on these inept companies.

 

[MELSMICE]

That's too bad. I always liked going in to Borders.

I did get a Nook for Christmas though, so I really don't have a reason to go to Borders any more.

 

[chisnpeke]

Was in Borders tonight and noticed that they had a ton of pushing to join their club, buy one get one deals...it's so sad but not really surprising to me. There are two Borders around me...I hope they make it

 

[bicker]

Everyone involved in content distribution (whether the content is reading material, music, video, etc.) must necessarily be ready and able to change. For myriad reasons, the old ways aren't as good as the new ways. Distributors and retailers that refuse to listen to their customers and change with the times ought to be shown the door. That includes switching to new modes of distribution (and, for that matter, protecting the value of the content, itself, when distributed using those new modes of distribution). I'm not going to be too upset when booksellers that ignored their customers, insisting on doing things the old way, find themselves in trouble.

 

[Art 1]

They can deny use of gift cards once they file for bankruptcy. Don't know if they will but they probably will if they can. I'm not going to take the chance. My wife bought me a $100 gift card and I have 30 something some on another, I'll be buying a lot of books and magazines today.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

There are two Borders near me and they are always quite busy so I'm hoping one (if not both) stay open... and I really hope they bounce back.

I'm so worried that ereaders are going to do to books what mp3 players did to CDs. I'm hoping the fact that books haven't gone through the same metamorphosis that music has (records to cassettes to cds, etc) will prevent that. Hopefully the history of books in and of themselves will allow the medium to survive.

I struggled with buying the Kindle because I can't stand the thought of contributing to the demise of books. I love technology, but I fought this ereader thing, kicking and screaming. Of course, I love my Kindle for its convenience and was giddy when I took it out of the box.

But unwrapping an Amazon giftcard on Christmas morning will never hold the same thrill for me that unwrapping a book will. You can't inscribe a greeting into a Kindle book. I can't hold my niece on my lap and read to her from the same Kindle that I read as a child.

Ahhh.
I'm gonna go rock back and forth in the corner for a while. I'll be back!

 

[VAfamily1998]

I'm so worried that ereaders are going to do to books what mp3 players did to CDs. I'm hoping the fact that books haven't gone through the same metamorphosis that music has (records to cassettes to cds, etc) will prevent that. Hopefully the history of books in and of themselves will allow the medium to survive.

I agree. No one in our household has an e-reader yet, and we really don't want one. We even won one in a raffle a few months ago, but sold it on Craigslist.

 

[bicker]

I'm so worried that ereaders are going to do to books what mp3 players did to CDs. I'm hoping the fact that books haven't gone through the same metamorphosis that music has (records to cassettes to cds, etc) will prevent that. Hopefully the history of books in and of themselves will allow the medium to survive.

On the one hand, I really hope that books don't go the same way music did, with piracy driving the industry into crapitude due to self-centered opportunism of some consumers, combined with lack of suspicion of the extent to which many consumers will engage in self-centered opportunism. On the other hand, I would be happy to see the whole realm of "disposable" books (i.e., books that people read for enjoyment and then give away, sell, or discard) converted to e-books.

I like the idea that there will always be that old "feeling of reading a book", with hardcovers, which we book buyers carefully spend our hard-earned money on and publishers carefully craft to high standards of quality. I like the idea of reading a book and then putting up on the shelf, almost as a symbol of pride of ownership for a well-crafted product.

I also like the idea that for other books (paperbacks, textbooks, magazines, newspapers, ...), we don't need to expend resources to take down trees, convert them into paper (have you ever been in a paper mill? seen what goes into the whole thing?), ... That the books are obtainable in a moment, are search-able, and take up no more space than a reasonably sized device necessary to read them (and for someone who regularly reads 700+ page novels, having them take up no more space than a 200 page novella is a great bonus). The ability to set the size of the type to whatever your eyes are capable of handling, on that particular day, is another big win. I also like being able to "pick up" my book on my phone, on my computer, and start reading from where I left off on my e-reader.

 

[DaisyLynn]

I will be so upset if our Borders closes. We don't have a Barnes and Noble, and the only other bookstore we have is really small and does not have nearly as many titles; their travel section just does not hold a candle to the one at Borders.

I will be going there this afternoon to spend my giftcard. Thanks for the heads up, OP.

 

[Shyvioletisme]

I'm hoping ours survives. Last time we were in, our friend who works there says it is one of the few in the DFW area that has been consistently making more money lately, so I hope it stays. I always love that Borders way more than any B&N. It has a better selection, a nicer atmosphere and I more than prefer their cafes to the B&N Starbucks grossness.

 

[bicker]

I suspect it varies from place to place. We have both a B&N and a Borders here in Burlington, and the B&N has always had a better selection, a better overall atmosphere in the store, and a better cafe.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

They can deny use of gift cards once they file for bankruptcy. Don't know if they will but they probably will if they can. I'm not going to take the chance. My wife bought me a $100 gift card and I have 30 something some on another, I'll be buying a lot of books and magazines today.

Good point!!!! I will have to sift through my gift cards!!!! I am heading out to the mall shortly which has a Borders.

Thanks!

ETA...Yep, I have one. Double thanks for this thread.

 

[JohnMouse]

Actually, it is about 200 of the smaller Borders Express and Waldenbooks stores usually found in malls, and a few Borders Outlets that are being slated for closing as a result of this bankruptcy filing.(I saw this info on another message board I frequent.) None of the "big" Borders stores are slated for closing.