During my recent trip, I stopped into a Borders for coffee and WiFi with a couple hours to kill while I was in the city. I didn’t know to say goodbye.
I have a card for Barnes & Noble somewhere, though by and large I get my books online. When they closed the Borders out in Alexandria, I had intended to stop by for clearance sale, but I didn’t have any other reason to go to Alexandria and any savings would have been wiped out by gasoline expenses. I lament the passing of Borders, mostly because it was one of only three major chains of its type. By which I don’t mean bookstore, but rather a big box retailer with books, media, WiFi, and a coffee shop. A shopping mall for adult entertainment consumers with far fewer teenagers around. With the exception of the coffee tie-in (where even there my view is a minority one), there really wasn’t much to recommend Borders over B&N. But more places is better than fewer, and two is less than three.
When I was out in Delianapolis, I was pretty hard-up to find a place with WiFi where I could access Hit Coffee as well as get some work done. I looked up some locations online, but went 0-for-4 with places either closed or closed. Then I saw a Hastings, and knew that meant coffee place and WiFi. Crappy WiFi, it would turn out, but it was better than nothing. And it was open late. Chains are helpful when you’re lost in an unknown city. Huge chains in big boxes with big signs even moreso.
Slate has a good article about Borders, and how they made mistakes independent of being in a failing industry, including one of the things I liked about it:
Borders did not diversify well. In the 2000s, it generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales of CDs and DVDs, and it expanded those sections in its stores. By 2006, sales of music and video generated about one in five dollars for the company. But the same forces killing the bookstore also killed the record store and the video store. That revenue dropped off a cliff when iTunes, Netflix, and file-sharing networks became popular in the mid- to late aughts. Borders also failed to generate robust additional revenues through coffee shops or alcohol sales, the savior of many a bookstore. Barnes & Noble picked up the big, exclusive Starbucks contract. Borders got its cheaper subsidiary, Seattle’s Best.
Seattle’s Best is owned by Starbucks, and from what I understand they use the very-same beans out of the very-same location. But even so, I have a soft spot for SBC that I lack for Starbucks. Namely, SBC had free WiFi when Starbucks was still charging for it, so I wrote a novel in a now-defunct Seattle’s Best in Estacado. But beyond that, they may be under the same corporate umbrella and may use the same beans, but they have different offerings. The end result taste different. IHOP and Applebee’s have common ownership, but they’re different establishments.
Slate also mentions Borders outsourcing its online presence to Amazon, and failing to either outsource its eBook business or do a good job with it.
A lot of people are claiming that this is the harbinger of the end of the bookstore. I don’t really agree. It could be the end of the big box store as we know it, but I think that there is room enough to adapt that B&N (and maybe even Hastings) will survive in some capacity. Sometimes people just want to go somewhere. They don’t know what they want, but they don’t want to wait a week for delivery and they probably don’t want something on Walmart’s rack. If comic book stores can still survive (albeit barely), book stores certainly can. And while Walmart and Amazon may be cheaper than new books, there’s also an opening for used bookstores that make money selling you coffee while you peruse their selection. Used books are not only cheaper than Walmart and Amazon, but they’re cheaper than ebooks.
I lament the passing of Borders, mostly because it was one of only three major chains of its type.
Borders, B&N, and …?
As I have said in other post, my local B&N took out a bunch of chairs that the freeloaders would use. How people ever got to think that B&N was a place to study or tutor is beyond me. It is a place of commerce, and unless you are buying something, you are being a Jew.
As an aside, since I am a Jew, I don’t buy new books ever. I will generally get them from the library, or, if not too expensive, but it used on Amazon.
Comment by Mike Hunt — July 22, 2011 @ 3:38 am
Hey, Will, this is a great post. You wrote a novel? What’s it about?
I’ve written about big box book stores a few times, and preferred Borders to Barnes and Noble. Anyways, here’s my piece on Barnes and Noble: http://www.theinductive.com/blog/the-book-store.html
and here’s what I wrote recently about Borders: http://www.theinductive.com/blog/books-the-last-book.html
Comment by Christopher Carr — July 22, 2011 @ 9:20 am
Mike:
Hastings.
I figured the coffee angle sort of fixed the “freeloader” problem. Take out the chairs placed about and put them in a place where you’re selling something for them to consume while they are idle. Also, make the chairs less comfortable.
I’ve moved away from getting used books on Amazon. Even when they’re listed in good condition, they seem to always come with these huge stickers affixed to them. There are so many things where I don’t care how they look, but oddly, books are one of the things I do care about. This is probably related to the fact that when I buy books, it’s often just to have them. In some cases, because I enjoyed the audiobook and wanted a physical manifestation of it (in addition to something to reference). I have a library card, but almost never use it. I have enough of Clancy’s books that I would probably never get through them if I tried. And, if I want some book she doesn’t own, I want it enough to want it in good condition.
So, at least in this respect, I’m becoming one of “those people.”
Comment by trumwill — July 22, 2011 @ 10:30 am
Christopher,
I’ve written four, actually. Mostly character pieces. The second involves religion and vigilantism. The fourth is going to need a serious rewrite, shifting the focus from character piece to the murder-mystery subplot that will become the centerpiece. Unfortunately, while I’m not bad at churning them out, I’m bad at going back and putting them in shape for distribution.
Regarding your posts, I understand where you’re coming from on B&N. I was at one when Watchmen came out, and thought it was cool that they had a “background” book on it. Then I saw a second, and a third. They had six in all. They love that sort of thing. My preference for B&N is for the bad reason: it’s more common than Borders. So it’s easier to shop there more frequently. It was apparently Borders attempt to answer that which partially did them in (over-expansion).
Comment by trumwill — July 22, 2011 @ 10:34 am
Did you publish your novels?
Comment by Christopher Carr — July 22, 2011 @ 3:04 pm
Never did, though I do sometimes give them out on request. Like I said, I’m good at writing them, but bad at going back and making them right. And, of course, the farther out I am, the more supplementary ideas I get and changes I want to make. This post, though, has me thinking really hard about it again. At least going back and making #4 more presentable.
Comment by trumwill — July 23, 2011 @ 12:55 am
I never heard of Hastings, mostly because the closest one to me is in the Indiana suburbs of Dayton.
I figured the coffee angle sort of fixed the “freeloader” problem. Take out the chairs placed about and put them in a place where you’re selling something for them to consume while they are idle. Also, make the chairs less comfortable.
Well that’s exactly what my local B&N did. Much fewer love seats around the store, and more wooden chairs in the cofee shop. Also, no more newspapers.
Comment by Mike Hunt — July 25, 2011 @ 7:48 pm
I thought about it after I wrote that and looked it up. Turns out they’re mostly in the west. They seem to have just had a presence in a lot of the places I have actually lived.
I read somewhere that McDonald’s intentionally makes their seats so that they’re only comfortable for about half an hour.
The McDonald’s near where I lived in Cascadia let you have ten minutes for every two dollars you spent. I wish I’d taken a picture of that sign.
Comment by trumwill — July 25, 2011 @ 11:17 pm
I read somewhere that McDonald’s intentionally makes their seats so that they’re only comfortable for about half an hour.
Sort of like how 7-11 intentionally designs poor parking lots.
The McDonald’s near where I lived in Cascadia let you have ten minutes for every two dollars you spent. I wish I’d taken a picture of that sign.
That makes sense, and I’m sure plenty of places have unofficial policies that are similar. However, I have never seen it expressed so explicitly.
One of the local McDonalds here strictly rations dipping suace for McNuggets I think 1 for 6, 2 for 9, and 3 for 20. Extra sauce is 25c a pack, but BBQ and sweet-n-sour is free from a dispenser. They have also turned the indoor playground into an internet cafe, complete with free wi-fi, comfy chairs, and holes.
Comment by Mike Hunt — July 28, 2011 @ 9:34 pm
Sort of like how 7-11 intentionally designs poor parking lots.
That I didn’t know. What’s the motivation? Don’t they want people to be able to park so that they can go in and buy something? I’ve passed by places without parking. It seems to me the downside is bigger than the upside (people hurrying in and out because they’re illegally parked).
I have always suspected that they make loitering uncomfortable. Which makes sense on one level, but on another level I typically buy my cigarettes at places that will let me loiter.
One of the local McDonalds here strictly rations dipping suace for McNuggets I think 1 for 6, 2 for 9, and 3 for 20.
I think that’s corporate policy these days. I see that sign every time I go to one. Of course, it sort of backfires. I don’t really dip my nuggets, but I feel like I am paying for the dipping sauce so I will get it anyway and take it home. I didn’t used to do that.
I’m sure they’ve done their math and they come out ahead in the end, though.
Fizzoli’s got rid of their free bread-sticks for a while. Or put a cap on them. Penny-wise, pound-foolish. The free and plentiful breadsticks are the only real reason to go to Fizzoli’s. They realized the error of their ways in pretty short order, though.
Comment by trumwill — July 28, 2011 @ 11:59 pm
That I didn’t know. What’s the motivation?
From what I hear, it is to deter robbers. Making egress as slow as possible. I couldn’t find an cite, so it is quite possible I am talking out of my ass…
Comment by Mike Hunt — July 29, 2011 @ 3:27 pm
That makes sense.
Tangential, but there is a convenience store new where I live that put their sign in the most ridiculous place. It’s right where you would drive into if you drove in at into the lot at anything from a 90-degree angle from the street (a busy street, so the temptation to not slow down for a 90-degree turn is strong). To make matters worse, the next building over is close to the street, so you can’t see it all that well ahead of time.
I’ve been hear a year, and I’m still having to remind myself of it.
Comment by trumwill — July 29, 2011 @ 8:41 pm