PreservedKillick
Puritan Board Freshman
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.
Borders Books, RIP
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Reformed Thomist
Puritan Board Sophomore
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.
Andres
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:
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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:
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Andres
Puritan Board Doctor
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.
Notthemama1984
Puritan Board Post-Graduate
Ask Mr. Religion
Flatly Unflappable
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 $50. And, as already noted, their prices were always too high.
AMR
AMR
Definitely agreed. There's a nice old used book store in an old house a couple towns away, wood-stove heated in Winter and the theology section is hidden away with some chairs so I have the chance to read while I'm there. Although on the other hand, the theology books aren't that good. Van Til is in there for 65$ if anybody is interested
.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.
Jesus is my friend
Puritan Board Junior
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
SwordoftheLord
Puritan Board Freshman
wow! I bought my first book about the bible from Borders when I was 14
Memories.....
Memories.....bookslover
Puritan Board Doctor
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.
Eoghan
Puritan Board Senior
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.
Marrow Man
Drunk with Powder
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.
FenderPriest
Puritan Board Junior
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.
Scottish Lass
Puritan Board Doctor
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.
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.
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.
It looks like Kobo users will not be affected by the demise of Borders.
Edward
Puritanboard Commissioner
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.
Pilgrim
Puritanboard Commissioner
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.
Notthemama1984
Puritan Board Post-Graduate
zing!
Ask Mr. Religion
Flatly Unflappable
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
AMR
Edward
Puritanboard Commissioner
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.
bookslover
Puritan Board Doctor
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...
If true, those are mighty interesting salaries, considering that Tower went under, in part, because it couldn't pay its bills...
Edward
Puritanboard Commissioner
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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