BORDERS

[sunflower]

Have you heard that Borders the bookshop and magazine store is closing down all their branches? It has gone into administration. I feel shocked about this because they are always so busy and have a broader range of books and magazines than Waterstones and Smiths. Even with their subs. from Starbucks coffee shop and Paperchase they still cannot continue.
It is so sad.

[eleanor2]

i heard it on the radio sunflower.i have never heard of them before.there is none around here.they say it is competition from the internet etc.

[jazzactivist]

I didn't like Borders from when it first opened, so I am quite glad to see the back of it, sunflower. Although they had a lot of books, the Starbucks and Paperchase concessions were also just big multinationals and, in my view, not suitable for serious readers and book buyers. Big chains like that affect the livelihood of small bookshops and specialist newsagents and there is nothing better than a browse in a small, well thought out, friendly book shop owned by a knowledgable person. Borders excuse is misguided, as it isn't the internet that is affecting their sales, it is that they can't offer the type of ambience and enthusiasm for books that readers expect. Book shops are apparently the one type of small shop that is having a resurgence during the recession.

[Gentian]

We don't have one in our area so the name is unfamiliar to me. I don't use our local bookshop either because it is run by an obnoxious woman who does not listen and tells you what you want, so I go to Waterstones.

[dragonfly]

I have not heard of them either sunflower but it is a shame when company's close. I feel sorry for all the people who work there who will lose their job. Now is not an easy time to get another job.

[jazzactivist]

It is funny that there is no Borders in some parts of the country as I didn't think that there was a large town or city without one. It is true that people who work for Borders will lose their jobs, DF, but they are just general retail staff and not specialist book assistants, so they should be able to get another job in retail pretty easily. That was what I really didn't like abotu Borders, that you could have been in any large store but they just happened to sell books.

Waterstones used to be really good and the staff were very knowledgeable, but now they can never answer your queries. I know that they pay their staff very low wages as we have known quite a few people who started their literary careers working in Waterstones. I shouldn't complain I suppose, as OH's next poetry book is going to be stocked by Waterstones, so we will have to go into each branch and edge it to the front of the shelf and hold loud conversations about what a great poet he is! At the moment his publisher is working on organising signed readings in the shops to promote it, but it will be very hard for OH to travel around and do it since he works full time.

[souter girl]

Troubkle is that Waterstones bought out Ottokars and now with Borders gone there is no competition as WH Smith really doesn't count any more. I do feel sorry for the small booksellers, but will use one where they can offer a personal service. Our bookgroup used to use the local one called "Words" and they would give us 1 free book (paperback) for every 5 purchased so instead of buying and sharing, we would buy at least 5 and of course they sold more that way too!The they sold out and the new owners seem to be more interested in sellling toys and knick knaces.
On that subject, why don't shops stick to what they are good at? You can buy just about anything anywhere but it doesn't make it better -you know sandwiches at Boots, toys at Superdrug, scarves at shoe shops - I never know where to go!

[jazzactivist]

I agree with you, SG. Years ago OH and I used to joke when libraries first introduced computers, that it wouldn't be long before we would be able to buy insurance from Kwik Fit and coffee in bookshops, and sure enough... I don't like it either and would prefer it if shops stuck to particular specialisms and selected staff who are enthusiastic and trained them well.

Small booksellers are usually very good at what they do, and worth seeking out, the only problem is that if you order from them online you have to pay quite high postage costs as they don't get the big discounts that Amazon et al do. I know that OH's poetry publisher has no choice but to charge customers more when they can get carriage for considerably less if they buy from Amazon.