This summer, Border's Books and Music has announced that it will be shutting down operations.
This has been a big downfall for what used to be the biggest bookstore company in existence. It was once a company that was feared due to draining away business from smaller bookstores.
But sometimes, even the mighty fall down, due to inside and outside influences.
Some have criticized the way the company's management has run things.
But a bigger factor is from outside competition. For one, Barnes & Nobles is still in business, and is now the biggest bookstore out there!
There is Amazon, an online company which can ship hard to find books straight to your house!
There are e-books, which some people find more convenient. (though I rather read from a paper than a computer screen, and I usually print stuff that I see online, so I can easily read while on the bus)
There has been less interest in reading books by a younger generation who can easily find tons of information on the internet!
And there's the US economy which has been declining the last few years. People have less money to spend these days!
All those things add up!
-------
Also, just like I did whenever I visited Tower Records, I didn't always go there to buy something! Whereas at Towers, I was mostly there for the listening stations (remember, that was before YouTube came out and re-released hard-to-find classics), I usually went to Borders just to read the books. Many times, I just went there just to look at books that have been publicized, just so I can see if they lived up to the hype! Or I found books I didn't hear about earlier, but they were very interesting, sometimes I even bought them!
Some have criticized people like me who go to stores just to check out stuff, but not buy them! But you have to inspect such stuff before you spend hard-earned money on them!
I have only limited amount to spend with luxury items, and limited space to store them! I did buy CD's at Towers and I did buy books at Border's. But I was very picky with what I buy! It has to be very valuable before I spent my hard-earned dollars on them!
But even when I didn't buy anything during the visit, I did learn a lot of things just reading those books I didn't buy! I also have valuable memories just reading on various topics during my visits, and I did have some valuable memories seeing people I knew when I visited Border's!
Now, they will only be memories!
I will miss Border's and I truly gave thanks to all those who worked at Border's for their valuable services throughout all those years!
===
PS: My goodbye post on Tower Records can be viewed at http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2006/12/end-of-era-tower-records-will-soon-be.html
