Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The End of Borders

The New York Times is reporting that Borders, the national bookstore chain headquartered in Ann Arbor, will liquidate its assets. Its remaining stores may close within the week.

I'm of many minds about this, as DA readers know. Borders put many independent bookstores out of business, including our own Shaman Drum. On the other hand, fewer bookstores doesn't exactly bode well.

Whatever one's opinion, it is a huge blow to A2, as remaining Borders employees will soon be out of a job. The last thing our state needs is more unemployment.

14 comments:

  1. Yeah. In addition that building is a central hub of downtown state street. I wonder what will go in there?

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  2. I wouldn't hold Shaman Drum against Borders. They were being funded by their textbook prices and policies. They were long seen as too expensive and too controlling, so no one felt bad ordering online instead. The shop itself is greatly missed, though.

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  3. The lack of retail space on State is often cited as a driver of increasing rental prices and the chain-ification of the street. Perhaps a positive of this will be an increase in retail space in the area.

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  4. I'd reiterate what Chris said. When I was a student nearly everyone I knew who shopped at the Drum (myself included) did so exclusively for textbooks and the textbook market being what it is, people were wise to the fact that books could be bought online for half price or less.

    It's hard to compete against AbesDiscountBooks.biz.uk and the infinite others out there. And indeed, the company that owns Ulrich's and Michigan Book and Supply filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy last month.

    Still, sad to see yet another book store close even if they had turned into a plodding national chain.

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  5. From the Twitter:
    @JamesDDickson: @damnarbor #VinceMcMahonVoice Shaman Drum screwed Shaman Drum

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  6. Shaman Drum used to get quite a bit of business from Borders. There was an interesting symbiotic relationship between them, dating back to when they were almost next door to one another. Knowledgeable Borders staff would send customers to the Drum for the more esoteric stuff they were known for, and those customers ended up buying other books there as well.

    Despite its larger size Borders became a shadow of what it was when I moved into town (yes, Josh, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth). Then it was known for its intelligent sales force and its welcoming atmosphere. It didn't even need a coffee shop to be a gathering place.

    I don't know what publishing and "book" (ebook? paper? telereader projected on a contact lens? chip implanted in my brainstem that feeds directly to my cerebral cortex?) selling will look like in a decade, and I hope it's something great. But I'll miss the days when a great Friday night date was just heading to Borders.

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  7. I think I could have expressed what I meant more clearly, so I apologize. The rise of Borders and B&N drove many indies out of business, and many more closed for other reasons. SD's close can't be linked to borders, of course, but the chains did make the indies less viable since they weren't standardized like the chains were. They led to a cookie cutter expectation foe bookstores.

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  8. My best memories of Borders are killing time there, reading comic books or magazines, while waiting to meet people downtown. Come to think of it, that probably did nothing to help their bottom line.

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  9. It was weird to get my regular Borders Reward email this morning like nothing had happened.

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  10. I first encountered Borders when I was a student at Eastern. I think I took the bus from Ypsilanti to check it out and it was a pretty cool experience. The staff was quite helpful. The books I was interested in were plentiful (Military history). The store was a bit on the crowded side but that was okay because it wasn't overly so. Then they moved into their digs in the former Jacobson's building, added the cafe, record store, etc. It was not quite the same.

    For convenience sake, I would visit the Arborland one but that Border's in name only. It didn't seem the same as the store on State Street.

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  11. It strikes me that the larger problem (what Ben called "the chain-ification" of State / Liberty) happens because of the high rents, but also because no one takes any action against it. I think some who have a say as to how business is done in this town in fact support this process.

    In the past, I've lived in other towns where a dim view was taken of chains and steps were made to control or forbid them (Takoma Park, MD comes to mind), and it's always a more pleasant place in many respects, although of course it takes careful planning, and brings its own problems.

    But my main thought when I heard the news the other day was this: That some former Borders people and some former Shaman Drum people could get together in the next year or so and open a new bookstore somewhere down there, a single store, one that would have all of the best elements of the old Borders (when it was on State St.) and of Shaman Drum. It's probably a fantasy, I realize that ...

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  12. I've always thought that, for its size, Ann Arbor has a surprising number of book stores (and, furthermore, used book stores!). Kerrytown alone has like 3, plus 1 or 2 at least on Main Street, plus the Dawn Treader on Liberty, and what used to be Borders and Shaman Drum in the same block (and I'm sure to be missing some)...I know that a bunch of >nerds(!)< live in Ann Arbor, not to mention all the students, but I guess it was always so surprising that such a relatively small city could support so many bookstores in its downtown. (Especially, now that I think of it, with all the libraries!)

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  13. i wish nicola's books were not on the edge of town. i think nicola has a great selection, is very comfy for browsing, and has a smart staff. like the old border's.

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  14. Oh, just got the "Fond Farewell" email. Little choked up.

    Where will the book signings be? The author chats? Does Nicola's attract as many authors? Where will I pick up a must-have New Yorker issue? I'm not prepared for this.

    And what if another retailer hawking hipster couture takes its place? The humanity! Oh, God, it all just hit me at once.

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