Borders Books

[Greedo]

Heard about 6 months ago that they were in serious trouble.

Was in today and the girl who served me noticed that I had a gift card in my wallet I've had for a while and she said "I'd use that as soon as possible if I was you"

Turns out the company that came in to save them has changed their mind and she reckoned they only have a couple of days left before they go belly up. WH Smith apparently!

I'd get in there asap and get your gift card spent asap as they are not hopeful. She also mentioned they'd refund the cash on gift cards.

Shame really as the one in Glasgow city centre is a great shop and she mentioned a lot of the staff had been there since it opened.

Sad for a lot of people to get that news about their jobs before Christmas.

 

[marinyork]

On the news .

 

[thomas]

The Norwich one is closing today/tomorrow I think.

 

[TVC]

Shame, I used the one at Fosse Park Leicester quite a lot, though not as much as I use Amazon - which helps to explain their demise.

 

[Gromit]

I love the one in York, will be a big void when it goes.

 

[marinyork]

**Lives in a Borders desert** but still likes Borders.

 

[Arch]

Blimey I was only in there today, I suppose my 5.99 wasn't enough.

 

[Globalti]

We went to the one near Preston a lot but...... how many books did we actually buy there?

 

[Fab Foodie]

I bought quite a bit in the Oxford one.
At least we still have Blackwells.

Problem is, supermarkets sell a lot of the cookery/celeb stuff and the popular pot-boilers and many like me increasingly find Amazon just tooooo easy.

Books for all their wall-lining lovliness are just commodity items, CD's too.

 

[chap]

Closing the Borders

It is a shame when jobs are lost; the staff have my sympathies. Conversely, I abhor the store; I am tired of every Tom, Dick, and Harry who sells the items on Richard and Judy's book list proclaiming their-selves a bookshop. The lack of range was lamentable, and just plain embarrassing.

Waterstones is another joke, but they are narrowly let off the hook by their monopoly on the Academic market.

Ultimately, I think the eventual winners shall be niche independents for (unfortunately) expensive books of interest; supermarkets-cum-multi-national conglomerates such as Tesco, and ASDA for effectively supplying what Waterstones does (sans Academic texts) albeit cheaper; and online retailers (chiefly Amazon) who supply what Waterstones and some of the independants do, but cheaper.

Waterstones will get what's coming to it, one cannot expect loyalty after swallowing up shops with integrity to form a behemoth of banality; their only (and short-lived) unique selling point is price.

Heard about 6 months ago that they were in serious trouble.

Was in today and the girl who served me noticed that I had a gift card in my wallet I've had for a while and she said "I'd use that as soon as possible if I was you"

Turns out the company that came in to save them has changed their mind and she reckoned they only have a couple of days left before they go belly up. WH Smith apparently!

I'd get in there asap and get your gift card spent asap as they are not hopeful. She also mentioned they'd refund the cash on gift cards.

Shame really as the one in Glasgow city centre is a great shop and she mentioned a lot of the staff had been there since it opened.

Sad for a lot of people to get that news about their jobs before Christmas.

 

[chap]

Convienience and price

I bought quite a bit in the Oxford one.
At least we still have Blackwells.

Problem is, supermarkets sell a lot of the cookery/celeb stuff and the popular pot-boilers and many like me increasingly find Amazon just tooooo easy.

Books for all their wall-lining lovliness are just commodity items, CD's too.

I disagree, CD's have largely been replaced by MP3 to the extent that many old releases have been converted and most new ones are in MP3 format.

Books on the other hand are predominantly in the exact same physical form; the Kindle is far from the spark that shall start the revolution. eBooks are progressing, but they are still in their infancy, even with eInk; the price needs to be brought down, until they are almost disposable. Then there is the matter of convenience. Remember MP3 players did not really take off until the iPod; and they had been around a heck of a lot longer than that. Why; think iTunes; the same reason (among a few others) for the success of the iPhone.

 

[Bay Runner]

It is a shame when jobs are lost; the staff have my sympathies.

Not only Boarders jobs, the store in Swansea has a Starbucks at the back.
What will happen to those staff?
I enjoy browsing in Boarders but I find them a bit pricy

 

[ceeque]

Its a damn shame, have bought a few books from them in a couple of different stores, one big ... one not and the bigger one had an amazing range of subjects covered very well, I hope and wish that they can continue and a buyer is found ... but not WHSmith please.!

 

[Globalti]

CD's have largely been replaced.....

It's CDs old Chap, same as it's MPs and ASBOs and PCs. Quite surprising for one of your articulacy.

 

[Proto]

CDs are a thing of the past. DVDs are not long for this world, we'll all be streaming films/tv before very long. And sadly, books will go too. Love them or loathe them, Kindle and Sony Reader (or their descendents) will take over and books made from paper will become a niche market for enthusiasts, much like vinyl records for the hi-fi crowd. Sad but true.

If you want to invest, don't put your money into record or bookshops. Invest in an internet enterprise.

Remember, selling in a mass market has never been about quality, but about ease of purchase and ease of use. The public are mostly lazy and stupid.