Ursus Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303661904576454353768550280.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories The loss of Borders may also make it more difficult for new writers to be discovered. "The liquidation of Borders is an irreplaceable loss of a big part of the book-discovery ecosystem," said Michael Norris, a senior analyst at Simba Information, a unit of MarketResearch.com "Thousands of people whose job consisted of talking up and selling books will eventually being doing something else, and that's bad for authors, agents, and everyone associated with the value chain in books." Mr. Norris said other booksellers, including Barnes & Noble Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., will go after the shoppers who formerly considered themselves Borders customers. "They won't be able to pick up everyone," he added. "If shopping at your local Borders is part of your weekly routine, and then Borders is gone, you may end up doing something other than buying books." Personally I have always used Amazon so I don't care. But, yeah, those of you who are authors or aspiring authors might find this upsetting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viggen Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 ...on Google + was a discussion about this and someone summed it pretty well up... I think the Borders bankruptcy isn't essentially about the book business. In fact it's much more closely tied to the real estate business. Borders had a ridiculously expensive portfolio of stores: huge spaces on glitzy corners with long-term leases (and an average of ~8 years still left on the lease, per store) that they couldn't walk away from, even as the fundamentals of their business changed beneath them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted July 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Yeah, that's true. Though it made for a nice shopping experience. They were clean, bright, ritzy places with a nice coffee bar. Of course, if you can't sell enough books to pay the rent, it doesn't matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caesar novus Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 Borders drove me away from bricks and mortar stores and towards online. The freeloaders blocking the shelves in their eternal reading or headphone positions started getting territorial and relishing keeping genuine shoppers away from their interest areas. I remember years ago when these bookstores started this library/coffee theme when such opportunities weren't taken for granted. It was also a time vagrancy was uncommon even during recessions, but now the default attitude seems to be cynical assumption of entitlements. Well, I guess this approach still works at some fringe bookstores that attract esoteric demographics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 Borders basically folded in the UK last year even though they tried to keep an online srvice operating this doesn't greatly interest me as Amazoon keep finding out. I personally still prefer to get my hands on real copies of books so tend to browse almost at random across several shelves in stores looking at different types of books before I purchase. The tasters amazon provide don't really cut it especially if it is a technical nook I wish to check out. So I find any 'real' bookstore loss, even of a 'branded' store, somewhat distressing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted July 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 It's just hard to beat Amazon. They often sell below retail price, charge no sales tax, and then there is the free shipping. Plus there is the huge US-UK market of 3rd party sellers for used books. This is where I get 75% of my own books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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