Borders Going Bye Bye

innerSpaceman · 07-19-2011, 03:12 PM

So I went by what used to be the HUGE Borders store near my office, and it's now a Crown Books. They've used a makeshift wall of bookshelves to block off the former Starbucks area and, oddly, the entire rear half of the store. I can understand that the side space of former Starbucks can be formally partitioned and leased out by Westfield as a separate retail operation - but there's nothing Westfield can do with the rear half of a giant space that has no access to the public throroughfare. Very strange.

And they managed to take what was a very upscale Borders location and, without adding anything new of their own, use the leftover fixtures and furnishings to create a decidedly downscale, totally schlocky shopping environment. (And, hahaha, all the "BORDERS" etchings on the windows have had the BS removed, and now read "ORDER.")

Sadly, a very unique and fantastic bookstore, Brentano's, was closed just downstairs from the Borders when it opened about 5 years ago. So now we're left with a really crappy Crown Books that is 30 steps down in quality from Brentano's. Bah.

madmonkeygirl · 07-19-2011, 05:34 PM

My friend from Indana worked at a Border's bookstore that was closed the first round of store closings. She worked there for over 10+ years. She is now unemployed. It sucks. As much as I do like online book buying with my IPad instead of a paper back I loved going into an actual book store once in awhile. I have a feeling that with all this technology items books will sadly become a thing of the past (actual books not those downloaded etc for Kindle's, IPads etc) just like pay phones and actual phone booths are becoming extinct.

07-19-2011, 03:12 PM	#1
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	So I went by what used to be the HUGE Borders store near my office, and it's now a Crown Books. They've used a makeshift wall of bookshelves to block off the former Starbucks area and, oddly, the entire rear half of the store. I can understand that the side space of former Starbucks can be formally partitioned and leased out by Westfield as a separate retail operation - but there's nothing Westfield can do with the rear half of a giant space that has no access to the public throroughfare. Very strange. And they managed to take what was a very upscale Borders location and, without adding anything new of their own, use the leftover fixtures and furnishings to create a decidedly downscale, totally schlocky shopping environment. (And, hahaha, all the "BORDERS" etchings on the windows have had the BS removed, and now read "ORDER.") Sadly, a very unique and fantastic bookstore, Brentano's, was closed just downstairs from the Borders when it opened about 5 years ago. So now we're left with a really crappy Crown Books that is 30 steps down in quality from Brentano's. Bah.
	Submit to Quotes

07-19-2011, 05:34 PM	#2
madmonkeygirl Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 764	My friend from Indana worked at a Border's bookstore that was closed the first round of store closings. She worked there for over 10+ years. She is now unemployed. It sucks. As much as I do like online book buying with my IPad instead of a paper back I loved going into an actual book store once in awhile. I have a feeling that with all this technology items books will sadly become a thing of the past (actual books not those downloaded etc for Kindle's, IPads etc) just like pay phones and actual phone booths are becoming extinct.
	Submit to Quotes