Borders flagship store in Ann Arbor, Michigan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>The Borders Group said Monday that it would liquidate, shutting down the 40-year-old bookseller after it failed to find a last-minute savior.<\/p>\n
Though it is not a big surprise, the move will still strip the publishing industry of shelf space that is becoming increasingly scarce as brick-and-mortar stores continue to founder.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing the best efforts of all parties, we are saddened by this development,\u201d Mike Edwards, Borders\u2019 president, said in a statement. \u201cThe headwinds we have been facing for quite some time, including the rapidly changing book industry, e-reader revolution, and turbulent economy, have brought us to where we are now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt saddens me tremendously because it was a wonderful chain of bookstores that sold our books very well,\u201d said Morgan Entrekin, the president and publisher of Grove\/Atlantic, an independent publisher. \u201cIt\u2019s part of the whole change that we\u2019re dealing with, which is very confusing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The news exposed a deep fear among publishers that bookstores would go the way of the record store, leaving potential customers without the chance to stumble upon a book and make an impulse purchase. Publishers have worried that without a specific place to browse for books, consumers could turn to one of the many other forms of entertainment available and leave books behind.<\/p>\n
All of this is bad news for those of us who love browsing, buying, and reading books, not to mention writing them. I always enjoyed my visits to Borders, partly because I could buy a book and a latt\u00e9 and sit for a while.<\/p>\n
But not everybody is crying into their latt\u00e9 because of the end of Borders.<\/p>\n
Independent bookstores, historically the foes of the big chains, stand to benefit from the closings of Borders stores. That effect has already begun to be seen all over the country from the Borders stores that closed earlier this year.<\/p>\n
At Next Chapter Bookshop in Mequon, Wis., sales rose 20 percent in June and July after a Borders several miles away went out of business, said Lanora Hurley, the owner.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody was saying those customers are going to go online,\u201d Ms. Hurley said. \u201cBut there\u2019s still a market for print books, and I\u2019m happy to see that that is flowing to an independent bookstore. I\u2019ve got lots of new customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the effect that superstores have had on independents in the last two decades was not entirely forgotten. Linda Bubon, an owner of Women and Children First, a 31-year-old bookstore in Chicago, said she had watched incredulously as Borders opened store after store in the last 10 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we have this behemoth off our backs,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not the politic answer to say that inside, there\u2019s a little happy bookseller who\u2019s jumping up and down.\u201d<\/p>\n
I am not happy over the demise of Borders. But I think this provides yet more evidence of the fundamental changes happening in the book publishing industry. Will those who care about books, including those who make a living by publishing and selling them, pay attention?<\/p>\n
It will be interesting to see if the demise of Borders opens up a new market for smaller, mom and pop bookstores. I\u2019m perfectly happy buying most of my books electronically and reading them on my Kindle. But there\u2019s nothing quite like going into a bookstore and browsing, discovering books that I\u2019d never have known about otherwise. Sell me this book at a reasonable price, along with a latt\u00e9, and you\u2019ve got a happy customer.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Monday, I blogged on a New York Times article that documented the \u201cvictory\u201d of the E-book revolution. Yesterday\u2019s Times has further evidence of the unprecedented changes facing book publishers and sellers because of the Internet. \u201cCalling Off Auction, Borders Plans to Liquidate\u201d reports on the final downfall of Borders, on of the nation\u2019s leading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[476,9565,788],"tags":[11064,11062,11063,2426,422],"class_list":["post-1324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-cultural-commentary","category-technology","tag-book-publishing","tag-borders","tag-closing","tag-e-books","tag-internet"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>