Borders may put itself up for sale....

[Flaxbee]

I live in a tiny town, so most of my books come from the Friends of the Library book store or online orders... how does Borders compare to Barnes & Noble in terms of inventory, customer service, etc.?


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/20/borders-book-stores-may-b_n_92492.html

DETROIT — Borders, the nation's second-largest bookseller, said Thursday it may put itself up for sale and that it has lined up $42.5 million in financing to help the chain continue operations.

Shares tumbled more than 29 percent, or $2.07, to $5.03 in volatile trading at midday.

Borders has lost market share both to online retailers and to discounters like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and its possible sale was given mixed prospects by industry analysts.

[Parche]

1. Hey Flaxee

I love borders!!

I get most of my 'airline' magazines there!!

We have a place here called Powells books, they are huge, they have almost every book you want
in stock



:hi:
:hug:

[Flaxbee]

3. hey Parche!

yes, I order online from Powells - they're fantastic!

[China_cat]

4. Powell's is also unionized and BLUE

http://www.powells.com/

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

5. I love ANY book store.

There's one thing you can be certain of when you enter a book store- everyone there browsing the books will be intelligent. Idiots fear book stores because they contain something they will never understand- imagination and a desire to expand one's mind.

You can't browse books properly online. You have to hold a book in your hand and turn the pages to feel the magic. Online stores simply ain't the same.

[Critters2]

19. Where are you, Parche? I used to live near a Powell's in Chicago.

I loved it!

[CreekDog]

2. how will they fit the buildings on those little tables in front?

:shrug:

[Xithras]

6. Locally I prefer Borders to B&N, but I despise WaldenBooks (owned by Borders).

Borders is having problems, in my opinion, because they screwed up the whole online thing. B&N and even many smaller bookstores embraced the Internet and integrated it with their inventory systems. You can go to B&N.com right now, purchase a book, and pick it up at your local store. Or you can research which books on a particular subject are available at your local store. Or check to see when a certain new release will be at your particular branch. They integrated very well.

I like the Borders stores better, but they jumped into the online pool with a giant bellyflop. Instead of developing something themselves, they subcontracted to Amazon and basically slapped their name on Amazon's site. You couldn't check inventory, finding store locations was difficult, and you couldn't pick up purchases in store. If people were going to buy a book online, they were given the choice between Amazon and a Borders-branded Amazon knockoff. Guess which one people used.

Borders is finally getting ready to roll out a new site, but they're a good 5-6 years behind their competition at this point. They essentially ceded the online world to their competitors, and I don't see how they can recover from that.

[1gobluedem]

8. I think Borders sold off their Waldenbooks stores

I hope they make it; I remember Borders when it was a single store here in Ann Arbor. Since the HQ is here we all want the company to do well.

[Xithras]

12. No, but they're closing and rebranding many/most of them.

Waldenbooks is a wholly owned subsidiary of Borders, but they've been losing money for quite a while. Borders has been slowly shutting down the real loss-heavy stores, and has been rebranding the others as the new Borders Express stores. It's my understanding that they plan on ending the Waldens name entirely at some point.

I think that's a good thing, personally. Waldenbooks is a "mall" bookstore that deliberately overprices its books to take advantage of shoppers who don't know any better. My wife once bought me a book at Waldens while Christmas shopping in the mall, and she spent $50 on a book that was available for $35 at the Borders a mile up the road. When I tried to return it to buy a cheaper copy, the Waldenbooks clerk argued that REMOVING THE PRICE STICKER constituted damage to the book making it unsalable, and therefore non-returnable. If you take off the price sticker, they don't have to take it back.

[blueraven95]

7. I used really like Borders

but the one close to me closed....

The last time I was in the local Borders, I wandered into the children's section and was shocked to find that they had separated their books into "Books for Boys" and "Books for Girls", which left me fuming - particularly because all of the well-written, interesting, etc. books were in the boys section, including Peter Pan and Treasure Island. Books, particularly at that age, are really very genderless - or at least should be. As a kid I enjoyed reading Nancy Drew, but I also loved the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

I think it's part of a bigger gender problem in publishing, but to have it so blatantly labeled really ticked me off.

[BreweryYardRat]

9. That's sad. They get big points from me for having a free discount system.

One coupon a week, anywhere from 20-30% off for anything in the store, and occasional coupons for 40% off CDs and DVDs. No membership fee -- unlike every other major bookstore. Not good for huge multi-item purchases (I hit Barnes and Noble for those), but great for small purchases. They generally stock more comic book trade paperbacks than Barnes and Noble, and their in-store coffee (Seattle's Best) is much tastier than B&N's Starbucks.

Also, they held a great sale before Thanksgiving '07 where you could get 66% off on some DVD season sets -- putting them in a much more reasonable price range.

[yellowdogintexas]

18. I love their discount coupons. Our old Borders was so cool and funky

it was the first megabookstore in Ft Worth, built in a converted supermarket..the old deli area was the coffee shop. The cafe had old tables, like 1950's formica, mismatched chairs, and big comfy couches in the music and reading areas and it was always busy.

Another one opened about 6 miles north and it has a much more corporate feel. I don't like it as much. Then our closer store got redecorated and looked all corporate. No sofas.

A couple of years after the new one opened, the old one closed. It is now a Conn's. Meanwhile, B & N moved in right up the street. And HalfPrice is a bit further down.

I was sad to see the old Borders close, it was so cozy and warm.

We don't have any non chain bookstores here. If I lived in Louisville I might patronize Hawley-Cooke, just because I went to college with the owners.

I divide my book purchasing between Borders and HalfPriceBooks, mostly.

[bif]

10. It's a good store

They supposedly make the employees take a test before they hire them, to make sure they have a pretty decent understanding of literature, music, and films. And they're based in Ann Arbor so I try to support them. I fear if they get sold, they'll move corporate headquarters out of town and more Michigan jobs will be lost. Just what we need.

[BreweryYardRat]

11. Oh, they make you take a test, but it's not a lit, music, and film test.

It's the same bogus questions most interviewers ask these days.

I applied last summer. Got turned down.

[Ellen Forradalom]

13. Auction itself off on eBay?

:shrug:

[petronius]

14. If a company sells itself, who gets to keep the money?

:shrug:

(I know, there's a real economic explanation, but it sounds funny to me.)

[Akoto]

15. Borders and B&N are right across the street from each other, here ...

I prefer Borders most of the time. They sell my gaming books (nerd alert), whereas B&N does not. The atmosphere is just a lot more casual, too.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

16. Dang.

They always have the books I need in stock.
Why is it everytime I find something I like it gets snatched away?
Duckie

[stuntcat]

17. much as I hate chains I always loved Borders

I worked at a lot of them, one in VA, one in NC, one in GA and I used to work at the one at the World Trade Center too.
Now there's one 2 miles from me but I hardly ever go, I just order used books from Alibris instead. I hope it'll always be there, it's good to have a cafe to go sit in sometimes.