# Borders Books, RIP



## bookslover (Jul 19, 2011)

Borders, the bookshop chain, should be dead by this Friday (July 22), per a bankruptcy judge - another victim of the recession, the internet, and e-reading technologies.

All those empty buildings...


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## jfschultz (Jul 19, 2011)

This might also be a big sale of books for a month or so.


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## Rufus (Jul 19, 2011)

R.I.P. All those memories, all those books I purchased there, and nowhere else to go.


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## Christopher88 (Jul 19, 2011)

Very sad day for us book lovers. We still have barnes n noble.


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## FenderPriest (Jul 19, 2011)

bookslover said:


> Borders, the bookshop chain, should be dead by this Friday (July 22), per a bankruptcy judge - another victim of the recession, the internet, and e-reading technologies.
> 
> All those empty buildings...


I wouldn't blame it on all those exclusively. Border and B&N have a poor business model - offering services (atmosphere, free perusal of books, etc.) that they don't monetarily capitalize on. Indeed people abuse the model, but they haven't morphed to competitively make themselves and their product (experiences are a product) a monetary gain for them. I think it's sad to see them go, but I wouldn't exclusively blame it on the recession/internet/ebooks.


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## Southern Twang (Jul 19, 2011)

I like when inefficient and non-creative businesses go out of business. Gotta learn how to compete. Plus the e-reader is the future.

Borders left over assets won't likely go to waste. Prime real estate will be bought by competitors and other businesses looking to get into a great location. The books will probably be sold in a fire sale to competitors and consumers.


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## Wayne (Jul 19, 2011)

Seemed like when we shopped at Borders that their pricing was always higher than other places.

And how is B&N doing? Are they having a tough time of it? If they both went under, then you'd have something there.

Maybe some mom and pop places could come back!


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## Marrow Man (Jul 19, 2011)

We actually shopped at a Borders last Friday and they seemed to be doing well at that store. All the larger super stores around here closed a few months ago (which I really hated, because they were nice stores and our men's group met at the coffee shop there).

Certainly things like e-readers and the economy have hurt Borders, but Jacob is correct in that Borders followed a bad business model and it finally caught up with them. For example, they were late in getting in on the e-reader technology. They were still selling CDs and DVDs in stores long after mp3s and Netflix changed the face of that market. Some of those reason were given back when the news of store closings broke a few months ago.


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## KMK (Jul 19, 2011)

At least we still have Blockbuster!


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## Tripel (Jul 19, 2011)

I like having a Borders for those occasions when I am too impatient to order something via the internet, but that has only happened a couple times.

Borders is just too expensive when compared to Amazon. And as Tim mentioned, the CD and DVD sales must have been horrible. Who in their right mind is going to pay $30 for a DVD from Borders when you can get it for a fraction of that with a simple internet search.

I like the idea of Borders, especially the idea of showing up, getting a cup of coffee and sitting down with some reading material. But then again, I can't recall the last time I did that--maybe 8 years ago??? I just don't have the time for that kind of thing.


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## Galatians220 (Jul 19, 2011)

I remember going to the original and then only Borders in Ann Arbor during the early seventies. It was in a small, pre-World War I, downtown storefront that had a creaky wooden floor and about five actual shelving units. The rest of the thousands of books were stacked in their delivery boxes on the floor. The clerks, all part-time, were students at the University of Michigan, and they knew where every single book in stock was. When I was attending the University of Detroit, sometimes some *enterprising* individuals would buy up all of the books for certain required courses and then sell them out of their car trunks at a huge mark-up. That's when a road trip to Borders in Ann Arbor for course books was the order of the day. BTW, that little storefront on the corner of Liberty in "A-squared" had the same smell as the later stores...

Now I have a new Kindle DX with the beginnings of a fine Christian library loaded onto it, for a total of about what one hardcover from Borders would cost because many of the Kindle titles were free (!). Times change. Too bad that all of the Borders, especially around here with our seas of empty storefronts anyway, are only going to add to the forlornness of what used to be a commercial landscape in this area.


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## LawrenceU (Jul 19, 2011)

The model of Borders and Barnes and Noble just couldn't hold out in the long haul. They were trying to appeal to a very small group of die-hard atmosphere driven bibliophiles. Books-A-Million is doing gangbuster business. They sell books efficiently and their prices are competitive. They even have a coffee bar. What is missing? The cozy, wood grained, darkened 'library look'.


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## KMK (Jul 19, 2011)

I never understood the appeal of sitting around in a bookstore. But then, I have 6 children.


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## Galatians220 (Jul 19, 2011)

KMK said:


> I never understood the appeal of sitting around in a bookstore. But then, I have 6 children.



The Lord has blessed you richly, Pastor.


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## PreservedKillick (Jul 19, 2011)

My wife and I both really enjoyed browsing in bookstores, drinking coffee, etc., until our kids came along, which made it impossible. It's funny, that's what we do on date nights now when we have a babysitter.



KMK said:


> I never understood the appeal of sitting around in a bookstore. But then, I have 6 children.


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## Joseph Scibbe (Jul 19, 2011)

Borders was always overpriced and I never felt "cozy" there. I won't be sad. If I need a new bookstore then B&N will do. I still like looking in used stores and Amazon.


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## jogri17 (Jul 19, 2011)

I will not miss it given :
1. I have decieded to live in Canada and 
2. The prices were always higher. 

That being said, it has some special memories for me. I'd like to share
1. After I was saved at 14 years old, it was the place where I bought my first christian books. I had no knowledge and I picked up 
authors such as : Paul Tillich, RC Sproul, Normal Geisler, John Piper, John MacArthur, Billy Graham, Tim Lahaye, etc...
2. It was where after I moved from my childhood (where I bought Harry Potter 1-4 at a mom-pop bookshop at midnight) that I went 
to to buy Harry Potter books 5-7 at midnight for the parties and atmosphere (and test out my costumes  ) It was a fun experience
3. It was where I met this girl in while I was a junior in High School and I had my first date with her. 
4. It was where I bought my Tim Lahaye Prophecy study Bible.... how embaressing looking back now that I am Reformed. But no 
regrets given God used it to give me a deeper love and passion to study his Word. Also the reason why I don't love study Bibles 
anymore!


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## Citadel (Jul 19, 2011)

Good riddance. Barnes and Noble is far superior 

 I don't know if I ever had a good experience in Borders. The one where I live is like a block away from a B&N too, so it's strange that the staff, etc, and Borders seemed so much worse.

Half Price Books beats all though!


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## Marrow Man (Jul 19, 2011)

Doesn't Barnes and Noble own Books-a-Million (or vice versa)? Both stores sell the Nook.


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## rookie (Jul 19, 2011)

We use to have a christian book store called "La Bonne Nouvelle", french for "The good news" and due to internet shopping, and more people going toward prosperity preaching, they closed as well. They were quite conservative on what they carried. They sometimes had things that were not theologically correct, but 95% of the books were great.

Funny how the Catholic bookstore down the road is booming


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## FenderPriest (Jul 19, 2011)

Citadel said:


> Good riddance. Barnes and Noble is far superior


They'll be next if they don't change their business model. Even their online store is ridiculously priced. In my opinion, B&N is in a prime position to beat out physical and online stores with how they've set themselves in the cultural life of many (i.e. To the family: "Let's go hang out at B&N tonight" - except nobody buys anything). What they should do is offer on-line buying through their physical locations; or some variation of that. They're a neat store, but if they don't change their interface and posture towards customers, they're going to die like Borders. So says the prophet.


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## O'GodHowGreatThouArt (Jul 19, 2011)

I'm sorry to see it go, but Barnes and Noble had been miles ahead of them for several years now and they did very little to catch up to both them and the current trends. So I knew it was only a matter of time before the entire corporation fell apart.


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## Philip (Jul 19, 2011)

O'GodHowGreatThouArt said:


> I'm sorry to see it go, but Barnes and Noble had been miles ahead of them for several years now and they did very little to catch up to both them and the current trends. So I knew it was only a matter of time before the entire corporation fell apart.



That's the key here. B&N has a better version of the same product, plus they actually have a competitor to the Kindle, and they also do a very nice business in publishing classics (much better than Dover: not quite as good as Modern Library: on a par with the Blackwell editions I saw in England).


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## Reformed Thomist (Jul 19, 2011)

Southern Twang said:


> I like when inefficient and non-creative businesses go out of business.



Yeah. It's great when thousands of workers, through no fault of their own, suddenly find themselves out of a job.


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## TexanRose (Jul 19, 2011)

I like the Houston area Borders much better than the Houston area Barnes and Nobles. The B&N's around here have gotten rid of their comfy chairs and closed down their coffee shops. So what's the point of going any more? If I just wanted to buy a book, I would go online. The Borders, however, kept the comfy chairs and coffee shops, and I will be very sorry to see them go.


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## Eoghan (Jul 19, 2011)

Borders books died here two maybe three years ago! How did they manage to hold on in the US?

I am afraid I use ebay and Amazon. Amazon have the disadvantage of some £3 ($6) postage on second hand books so ebay can be more attractive when the total price is £3 as they often have lower (or free) postage.


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## PreservedKillick (Jul 19, 2011)

I don't know about elsewhere in the US, but they remained quite popular here in Tallahassee to the end, since we're a college town, and the Border's is more convenient to the FSU campus and downtown that B&N.



Eoghan said:


> Borders books died here two maybe three years ago! How did they manage to hold on in the US?
> 
> I am afraid I use ebay and Amazon. Amazon have the disadvantage of some £3 ($6) postage on second hand books so ebay can be more attractive when the total price is £3 as they often have lower (or free) postage.


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## Reformed Thomist (Jul 19, 2011)

Joshua said:


> Reformed Thomist said:
> 
> 
> > Southern Twang said:
> ...



I don't think he's rejoicing over job losses either. I'm just drawing attention to the fact that every economic act, insofar that human labor is involved, has a moral side.


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## KMK (Jul 19, 2011)

Reformed Thomist said:


> Joshua said:
> 
> 
> > Reformed Thomist said:
> ...



What exactly is the 'moral' side of Borders going bankrupt?


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## Andres (Jul 19, 2011)

Reformed Thomist said:


> Southern Twang said:
> 
> 
> > I like when inefficient and non-creative businesses go out of business.
> ...



Yeah because it's not like anyone's ever had to get another job before. It's called life.

---------- Post added at 04:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 PM ----------

Who still shops at bookstores anyway? I would venture to say that any book you can find in a bookstore, you can find online for cheaper. There are a few rare exceptions, but they are just that - rare exceptions. I've probably obtained over 100 books in the last two years and I can only remember purchasing 2 in actual bookstores.


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## PreservedKillick (Jul 19, 2011)

I'll browse in a retail bookstore, and then buy online. The one bookstore in town where I do buy books is the local Goodwill bookstore--typically spending one or two dollars per book. 



Andres said:


> Reformed Thomist said:
> 
> 
> > Southern Twang said:
> ...


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## CharlieJ (Jul 19, 2011)

I rarely buy a book at a bookstore, but I often go to B&N to browse. If I read a lot of something there or use their internet for a few hours, I always buy a drink so the store makes at least some money from my presence.


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## Reformed Thomist (Jul 19, 2011)

KMK said:


> Reformed Thomist said:
> 
> 
> > Joshua said:
> ...



I don't know, but statements along the lines of 'Nothing wrong here; just good old free market economics at work!' in response to a situation where thousands of workers, again through no fault of their own, have lost their jobs just strike me as being insensitive to the moral side of economics generally. It's typical of people who see generating profit as a business' only social responsibility -- who feel that having regard, say, for the welfare of the human beings whose labor is integral to that profit generation [beyond what the law forces them to have] is neither here nor there in economics.


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## Philip (Jul 19, 2011)

*Andres*


> I've probably obtained over 100 books in the last two years and I can only remember purchasing 2 in actual bookstores.



See, I'm mostly a used book shopper and so getting a book on Amazon or Ebay (unless it's vintage or a rare edition) takes all the fun out of it. Plus I love the smell and feel of shops like this one:

View attachment 2135


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## Edward (Jul 19, 2011)

KMK said:


> At least we still have Blockbuster!


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## Andres (Jul 19, 2011)

P. F. Pugh said:


> *Andres*
> 
> 
> > I've probably obtained over 100 books in the last two years and I can only remember purchasing 2 in actual bookstores.
> ...



I've been in similar shops and I find them incredibly frustrating because everything just seems jumbled. I can't find what I'm looking for.


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## Notthemama1984 (Jul 19, 2011)

KMK said:


> At least we still have Blockbuster!



Unfortunately I still have Blockbuster stock.


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Jul 19, 2011)

I never liked the pretentiousness of the Borders staff and I am not surprised to see this happen. They closed two stores recently here and I picked up quite a few bargains. Even got a couple of Kobos for $50. And, as already noted, their prices were always too high.

AMR


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## Rufus (Jul 19, 2011)

P. F. Pugh said:


> *Andres*
> 
> 
> > I've probably obtained over 100 books in the last two years and I can only remember purchasing 2 in actual bookstores.
> ...



Definitely agreed. There's a nice old used book store in an old house a couple towns away, wood-stove heated in Winter and the theology section is hidden away with some chairs so I have the chance to read while I'm there. Although on the other hand, the theology books aren't that good. Van Til is in there for 65$ if anybody is interested .


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## Philip (Jul 19, 2011)

> I've been in similar shops and I find them incredibly frustrating because everything just seems jumbled. I can't find what I'm looking for.



This one was incredibly well-organized---and I found books I've never seen anywhere else (_Painting as a Pastime_ by Winston Churchill, for instance).

And I would never go to a disorganized bookshop looking for anything in particular, just like I never go to a rummage sale knowing what I'll find. That's the fun of it.


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## Jesus is my friend (Jul 19, 2011)

Very sad,another nail in the coffin of the book world,let's enjoy books while we still have them and not confuse Kindles and the like as anything close to a book,call me a purist or whatever you like but nothing beats a real book just the smell of it brings back memories,quality over quantity rarely wins


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## SwordoftheLord (Jul 19, 2011)

wow! I bought my first book about the bible from Borders when I was 14 Memories.....


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## bookslover (Jul 20, 2011)

It would be a shame if Barnes & Noble went bust also. After all, they've been at the bookselling biz since 1873! I do like their reprints of out-of-copyright classics, too.


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## Eoghan (Jul 20, 2011)

I think the "nothing wrong here" is an expression of relief that Obama did not step in to give tax dollars to support Borders. In the long run government run businesses are worse for society. Take Greece for example... The human cost of failed businesses is real but interventionist policies simply raise the stakes without solving anything.


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## Marrow Man (Jul 20, 2011)

I briefly stopped by one of the remaining local Borders today. Nothing in the store indicated it was closing. When they closed the superstore, they had weeks of discounts for the books, but apparently no such bargains now. I was hoping to stock up on children's books for Gracie.


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## Edward (Jul 20, 2011)

The bankruptcy trustee will probably bring in a liquidation company to sell the remaining inventory and the fixtures.


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## DAVIDMC (Jul 21, 2011)

At my Borders we would buy history books, photography books, etc. I do not think I would ever order one of those from Amazon, etc. since I can't look at the maps, pictures before I buy it. How can a Kindle ever reproduce that ? Will this type of book just die ?


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## FenderPriest (Jul 22, 2011)

I don't think it does Dave, but with previewing of books on Amazon, you can get a pretty good idea of what you're looking for.


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## Scottish Lass (Jul 22, 2011)

Stopped by one of our two remaining Borders---10-30% discounts today. They either don't know or aren't saying when the next round of discounts will begin.


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## KMK (Jul 22, 2011)

DAVIDMC said:


> At my Borders we would buy history books, photography books, etc. I do not think I would ever order one of those from Amazon, etc. since I can't look at the maps, pictures before I buy it. How can a Kindle ever reproduce that ? Will this type of book just die ?



Color e-ink technology is not too far away. Someday full color maps and photographs and even animation will be available on Kindle type devices.


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## KMK (Jul 22, 2011)

BTW, here is an article concerning the Kobo reader: What Does Borders Shutdown Mean for the Kobo E-Reader? | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

It looks like Kobo users will not be affected by the demise of Borders.


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## Zenas (Jul 22, 2011)

Fail sale: Rosetta Stone is only 10% off. We'd waste that much in gas driving into town to get to the store.


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## Edward (Jul 22, 2011)

Zenas said:


> Fail sale: Rosetta Stone is only 10% off. We'd waste that much in gas driving into town to get to the store.



You have to be really careful at the shutdown liquidations. They mark off of full suggested retail price. During the CompUSA chain shutdown, they would have stuff marked 40% off that I could get cheaper at Frys or perhaps Microcenter. And it worked. By the time they got to real markdowns, the stores were pretty well picked over.

I think all the Borders around here were closed in the first round, anyway. I didn't bother with that, as they were moving items that they felt had value to stores they were keeping open at that point, and moving in inventory that they couldn't sell to the stores where they were liquidating.


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## Pilgrim (Jul 22, 2011)

FenderPriest said:


> I don't think it does Dave, but with previewing of books on Amazon, you can get a pretty good idea of what you're looking for.



That's usually the case, IF the publisher allows for that. Some smaller publishers don't appear to. But in my opinion you cannot see what you need to know about a Bible through the Amazon or CBD preview feature e.g. binding, cover, paper quality, etc. 

The Borders stores here (which shut down a few months ago) weren't the larger ones and had a small section of Christian books and Bibles anyway, even worse than B&N. But Books a Million sometimes has good 30% off deals on Bibles (sometimes beating online stores) and some Christian books here and there as well.


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## Andres (Jul 23, 2011)

Someone posted this as a status on Facebook: 



> Sad to see Borders closing, it was a neat place to hang-out before going home and buying books off Amazon.


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## Notthemama1984 (Jul 23, 2011)

Andres said:


> Someone posted this as a status on Facebook:
> 
> 
> 
> > Sad to see Borders closing, it was a neat place to hang-out before going home and buying books off Amazon.



zing!


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Jul 23, 2011)

I wonder if the Borders web store will remain in existence. It is not clear from the email I rec'd from the CEO yesterday announcing the store closures and 40% sales for the remaining brick and mortar stores that they will continue to offer books for sale via the web.

AMR


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## Edward (Jul 23, 2011)

Ask Mr. Religion said:


> I wonder if the Borders web store will remain in existence. It is not clear from the email I rec'd from the CEO yesterday announcing the store closures and 40% sales for the remaining brick and mortar stores that they will continue to offer books for sale via the web.
> 
> AMR



Good question. I had assumed so, but after looking for a few minutes, I'm not as sure. I know that they started out online contracting with Amazon. Do they do their own web sales now? 

When CompUSA shut down, another company bought the domain name and continued business. (They also picked up a handful of stores, including one locally that had sold out to bare walls.) So there is precident for keeping the web store going.


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## bookslover (Jul 23, 2011)

Speaking of liquidation sales: when the still-much-lamented Tower Records chain went bye-bye a few years ago, I was friendly with one of the classical music buyers. He told me that the chain had hired a guy to oversee the liquidation process. He was paid $300,000 per month. He was allowed to hire two guys to help him. They were paid $100,000 per month, each.

If true, those are mighty interesting salaries, considering that Tower went under, in part, because it couldn't pay its bills...


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## Edward (Jul 24, 2011)

bookslover said:


> If true, those are mighty interesting salaries, considering that Tower went under, in part, because it couldn't pay its bills.



It's not steady work, and it isn't career track. Banks pay their workout specialists a premium over what they pay career employees for the same reason - if they are good, they'll work themselves out of a job (and if they are not, the position is likely to be self - limiting in another fashion.)


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## DMcFadden (Jul 24, 2011)

After looking at the zoo in our local borders with a line as long as the one for the latest blockbuster movie or at Best Buy on Black Friday, I wondered: Who would stand in line so long to pay more than you would online?

One small point. Theoretically, you are supposed to declare your online purchases on your California taxes. However, since little has been done to mandate a system of record keeping, it would need to be a VERY deep discount to get anything at a brick and mortar store in CA that would offset the nearly 10% (in some cities) sales tax. The same goes for online electronic purchases as well as books.

People talk about the "Walmart" affect on commerce. Has anyone done a decent study on the online factor? Amazon is a monster, and not just in the Kindle category.


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## Edward (Jul 27, 2011)

And, who doesn't enjoy an occasional "I told you so"

What sale? Borders jacks up prices
A comparison of going-out-of-business prices at the bookseller with its prices the week before will shock you.
What sale? Borders jacks up prices- MSN Money

****WARNING**** Vulgarity in the comments at the link.


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## PreservedKillick (Jul 27, 2011)

The _Economist_ had an interesting online article about this. I think their proposed solution is goofy and has nothing to do with the free market newspaper they used to be, but their analysis of the problem is good. Basically, the demand is for public space to sip coffee and meet friends, and a big physical bookstore is a really inefficient way to go about this.

Borders and bankruptcy: Goodbye to bricks and mortar | The Economist

The above may be subscription only, I'm not sure.

---------- Post added at 09:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 PM ----------

Wow. Well, if there was any mystery why the company went under, there isn't anymore.



Edward said:


> And, who doesn't enjoy an occasional "I told you so"
> 
> What sale? Borders jacks up prices
> A comparison of going-out-of-business prices at the bookseller with its prices the week before will shock you.
> ...


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