Borders Death Watch

[beamjockey]

Borders is dying. Stores around here are due to close after Saturday. Everything is marked down to 70% off (and a few deeper discounts). Shelving and fixtures are being peddled.

Prices are down to the kind of used-bookstore levels where I usually purchase books. I am tight with my book-bucks and it is very unusual for me to buy a new book at full cover price.

The Geneva Borders store on Randall Road had a copy of Turn Left at Orion, third edition (with the Mary Lynn cover) for $8.40 a few days ago. I bought a couple of copies, but didn't feel a need for a third one.

More than one Borders still has a fair selection of, say, hundreds of SF and fantasy titles this week. Over the weekend their aisles were bustling with bibliophiles. The former "bargain" books are down from six or seven bucks to one or two bucks, so that's a section well worth scanning.

For some reason I get a pang of sadness when I see a book by a friend on these shelves. I know their titles will keep selling in other stores, and online, but there's something lonely and forlorn about a book in these surroundings.

The original Borders store in Ann Arbor was a magical place, crammed with arcane titles. When it blossomed into a chain, there was rejoicing across the land. For quite a while, we had really big bookstores, with really wide selections, all over America. It was fun while it lasted.

I think I'm pretty much done shopping, but I might peek in to see if prices drop any further.

Comments

[fmsv.livejournal.com]

The last Borders to close in our area is due to close in about 15 minutes. We went to the second-last to close the day before it was scheduled to close, and found almost all the inventory gone. (A store employee said that something like 3 buyers bought almost all the inventory once it hit 90% off.)

[neowolf2.livejournal.com]

I figure they're selling it on the net.

Stopped at the one in Algonquin Commons on the way home and got three last books (and a CAT5 cable). The SF paperbacks were $.80 each. They close tomorrow.

[seawasp]

If one of my books is there, I think the contractual arrangements are such that once it goes below 40-50% of cover I get nothing for it. I know that's true for a lot of authors.

[tandw.livejournal.com]

I remember Charlie Stross saying something about that in an essay; it had to do with reducing royalties if a book was bought at a discount (say, with a coupon). After that, I started trying to pay full price for books written by people I knew...it helps when you have a decent day job.

[neowolf2.livejournal.com]

I saw a number of Stross books at the Borders I stopped at this evening.

Would the author get royalties in any case, since the books being sold are assets of a bankrupt firm?

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

Grand Central Arena was on the shelf at one store. But I already have a copy. (-:

[richardthe23rd.livejournal.com]

This may be the time I fill the shelves of my poker section. (If an author ends up missing out on royalties...well, I guess you lose this hand, poker boy.)

[acmespaceship.livejournal.com]

Regarding the Ann Arbor store: http://articles.cnn.com/2011-09-12/us/first.borders.bookstore.closing_1_borders-rewards-bookstore-woolworth?_s=PM:US

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

What an appalling amount of clutter is wrapped around that article, scattered as it is across eleven ad-spattered pages!

[acmespaceship.livejournal.com]

I live in a zen-like state of peace, insulated and unaware of distractions, because I use Adblock Plus.

I do fear that too many websites (not to mention Windows operating systems) are being designed for tablets now and, instead of scrolling, we'll be waiting for every. damn. page. to. load.

[kevinnickerson.livejournal.com]

That's odd. It was one page on, er, Sunday(?) when I read it.

[kevinnickerson.livejournal.com]

I'm part of the problem. We went to Store #1 a few weeks ago. After wandering a bit in the SF section, I admitted that I wasn't about to buy any SF on paper, so I went to cookbooks and maps. I did buy a map.

Really, from here on, it's ePub only. Well, something special like the Zelazny set I picked up last year is still ok for paper, but that's it.

[seawasp]

"Why do you hate America?"

:)

[kevinnickerson.livejournal.com]

Because it wouldn't fit on my shelves.

[henrytroup.livejournal.com]

I remember a few business trips from Ottawa to Ann Arbor in the 1980's. At customs: anything over $25? Yes. Much paperwork... What do you have? $200 in books. Customs: BOOKS? Nothing to pay.

Those days had their moments. Ann Arbor also had The Gandy Dancer, an excellent resto in the old train station. It was interesting when a train went through.

[purpleranger.livejournal.com]

The two remaining Borders stores in Louisville closed this past weekend. I managed to pick up a number of good deals during the liquidation sale.

I went by one of the stores yesterday, and I took a peek through the window. Seeing the now-empty store . . . it took everything I had to keep from crying.