Borders Atlanta store to close...

Just found out our Borders in a well-to-do Atlanta suburb has announced it will shut its doors. It's been, along with a Walmart, an anchor of a nice outdoor mall for about 15 years. A few years ago they got rid of their absolutely great CD section (probably a fifth of their floor space), then the DVDs, so I figured that with Amazon and now eBooks, it was just a matter of time, so I'm not that surprised.

And while I must share the blame since these days I purchase most of my music online, I have, for the most part still given them business by buying books, magazines, and patronizing their cafe. Obviously though, too little and too late...

Another sign of the times.

 

Sad, but true.

In my town there are only three outlets of new CD for sale.
And the floor space for CD's is shrinking and shrinking.

 

I'm waiting for the one here to close. Last time I went in there were only 3 or 4 people shopping (and it is across the street from the busiest shopping mall in town).

 

The Chula Vista store (California) just announced they were closing soon as well. As you said, first the CD section went...

I usually go to Barnes & Noble now, so at least they are hanging on....

I sure miss Tower Records...

 

I find it unlikely that there's not at least one good independent new/used bookstore in the Atlanta area. I'm sure they'd be happy to have your business rather than some lame big box store, anyways.

 

Consumers have been using sites like Amazon for discounted pricing on books for some time now. Borders and other book stores have been suffering as a result, and rumours of Borders demise have been circulating for a while. (I also have a brother who works for one, and he fears the end is coming for Borders. They are hurting bad, and Borders has already been closing some stores.)
For myself, I very rarely bother to go into a Borders store anymore; their CD area is miniscule to what it once was. Sure I can browse the books there but if I see something I want I will likely buy it online for the better discount, like many others.

 

Same here, but the one near me has a disproportionate amount of floor space devoted to Nook, games, and toys. Not sure if this is a reaction to the current environment, a restocking for the holidays, or something in between.

 

Not feeling sad at all. The big fish that ate up the little fishes must of choked on some plastic.

Hopefully, the little fishes will return one day.

 

Bingo.

As I said, my shopping habits are part of the reason. It's rare that I (or my kid) just has to have that book/gift that very day, which removes the online option; most of the time, we're willing to wait the 3-4 days to get our prizes. While the cafe is nice to get a group together, and the children's section is a godsend on those rainy Sundays (when the library is closed), the revenue from those aspects of a B/M store are obviously not enough to sustain it, esp. in this economy. People will flock to the better mousetrap.

 

We lost our Borders about 3 months ago here in Hilo.
It really bothered me.As corny as it may sounds ,Borders was a cultural oasis here.Of course the CD section had taken a dive the last few years.But with a coffee shop,tons of magazines and new book releases it felt like we were at least part of America.

Oh Well.......

 

The flagship Borders in downtown Portland is closing soon. They're currently at 20% off everything. In their email to customers, they pointed out that there are five other Borders in the area, but they're all at the remote outskirts of the suburbs. The downtown location was most convenient for me, and the place where I bought stuff before or after work.

Of course, by now they've wrecked the music department inventory so much that it's hard to lament its demise as much as I already have over the last 4-6 years as I've watched their dedicated SACD/DVD-Audio section (those were the days! ) disappear, and their remaining selection continue to shrink more and more (they used to have a huge glass case for box sets, and now it's just a handful of boxes on a miniature piano, all tethered and wrapped with damaging security cables of course).

The last thing I bought there - John Lennon Signature box set for 40% off list price with a coupon - is likely the last thing I'll ever buy there.

Craig.

 

The Borders next door to the Giants ballpark closed recently. I try to shop local when I can, and there are still good independent bookstores in the city, but man, that one was convenient.

 

This is one of the things that I absolutely hated about buying music at Borders. It is the only place in town that keeps box sets where you can't browse them.

Well, that and that their prices are ridiculous.

 

Not entirely sure what you mean by "flagship", but wouldn't that refer to store #1, in downtown Ann Arbor?

 

The downtown Santa Barbara Borders is closing as well. The Goleta store (by UCSB) will still be open.

Good riddance I say...their high prices were ridiculous and they took out some great mom & pop stores when they came to town.

 

Borders has continued to have financial problems.

 

A sign of the times.... I'm sure Kindle sales have hurt them also..

 

The OP has not revealed the exact location of the store,
I for one would be interested to know. I wonder if it's near
Perimeter Mall, as there is a Walmart in that center.

A friend told me recently he's discovered that e-books are easy to steal if you own a Kindle.
He did not elaborate on the procedure, but it does not surprise me one bit.

 

If you live in Atlanta... why not just shop at somewhere like Criminal?

 

At the nearby Borders I see a lot of young people sitting at the tables at the Cafe, nurturing a coffee for hours while they do homework on their laptops...not a good business model. Although I often buy online, there is nothing like browsing at a bookstore....especiallly one that also carries music and video.

 

I'm no fan of Borders (their CD and DVD prices are scandalous), but if they do go under, that will be one less major competitor left in the marketplace. I understand that B&N is also having financial difficulty.

I hope the day never comes when Amazon is the only remaining option for media purchases. We'll find out just how elastic their prices are then.

 

If it is the Dunwoody store I have little sympathy except of course for those who lost their jobs. They eliminated the music section entirely which was sad as they had a wonderful classical and jazz selection for many years.

 

The problem for B&M bookstores is this: The traditional model for bookstores is that they would make most of their profits on bestsellers, and that would pay to have the slow moving deep catalog (and to keep the doors open).

The bestseller sales have been siphoned off by Amazon, Costco, WalMart, etc. A bookstore can't stay open catering merely to those who occasionally come by to look for a deep catalog book--even if those books are sold at full retail.

It's very sad, but that's what it is...

 

Pricing is one issue, and the internet has given online retailers an option to cut prices in ways that are not possible in physical stores. For myself, I would always prefer a well-stocked store where I can browse, handle, compare, etc. The latter, of course, hasn't really existed for a few years now.

When Borders first opened in my area, they had a music & video stock comparable to the local Tower. Between the two stores, I could usually find anything I wanted. Both stores were busy, both stores were places you could feel comfortable in, and both stores were very intelligently stocked in music, video, books, periodicals, etc.

Unfortunately, both stores dumbed down. Tower, of course, went under a few years ago. I can't believe for one second that their Brea store wasn't profitable, but I'd guess poor decisions at the chain-wide level brought about the bankruptcy. I don’t really believe it was downloads and online sales. The store was always full of people and full of people buying.

Borders, on the other hand, is a different story. They opened more and more stores (there are now 4 stores less than 20 minutes away from where I live) and as they opened these stores their stock became more and more limited and more and more homogenized. At this point, they seem to be more concerned with selling gift items and coffee than an intelligent selection of books, music , etc. Why all the stores have to be the same is a mystery to me.

It's too bad they didn't choose to retain the original, intelligently stocked, model in at least selected stores within a certain area. It seems to me that a selection with the quality of the original store in my area would continue to attract people who would be willing to drive, say for 20 minutes, out of their neighborhood and buy in a real store.

 

Yes, that's the one, in Dunwoody.