Borders Coupons

My local Borders seems to be thinning out the CD section.
Classical & Jazz went from 3 rows each to 1.5 rows each.
The empty space was filled up with DVD box sets.
They hardly restock back catalog stuff, only getting in the major new releases every week.

 

Too many "coupons". No profit, no $ for stock. No stock, no spenders. No spenders, no store. That's what's gonna happen. Fact. Can you say "Tower"?

I'm as guilty as all of you <if you're reading this> of hunting down the "best" % off coupons, so I'm not preachin'. I'm just sayin'. We're killing the brick & mortars. Fact. Just watch & see.

 

BORDERS is really downsizing their "music" departments. I almost got into a verbal argument with an old "record store" friend of mine, who is in mid-management at my local BORDERS. I've known her since around 1984, when she then worked for a small local chain called, "Quonset Hut", so we rarely try to "bullsh**" each other, when talking the sale of music.

I went into my local BORDERS the other day and two entire long CD storage bins were now empty and I turned to my friend and said, "What are they doing now?" But instead of the usual, "we're just getting rid of some back catalog titles", she started to growl at me with, "WHAT?...We are just consolidating space, instead of having ALL of these huge bins!"

Here lies the "coupons", IMO...BORDERS realizes that with downloads and better pricing at "WORST BUY"< "WALMART"< "TARGET" and "CIRCUIT CITY", plus with the added fact that, since they're basically "forced" into dropping their huge back catalog's, that they'll use "coupons", rather than LOW PRICES, to get you to shop their stores.

Honestly, with the loss of their once GREAT back catalog selections, I've lost almost ANY interest in BORDERS, "coupons" or not!

Chris C

I should also add that I didn't mind paying a few extra bucks per CD at BORDERS, since I knew that they would at least have a new reissue "IN STOCK", the day that it was released! So much for "the good old days", huh?

 

I disagree for two reasons. In my case (and I suspect with many others here), the vast majority of what I buy at Borders with these coupons is stuff that has sat there for years and would probably continue to sit there if not for me. I'm a big jazz fan and also like many obscure indie-type pop/rock acts. I don't think Borders is moving a lot of this merchandise--coupon or not.

Secondly, the coupons can't be used for CDs that are on sale. That generally means high-profile new releases that tend to sell in greater volume. They sell those for $14.99 or $15.99, and the 30%-off coupons that would get you a better deal are useless on those titles.

So they sell a bunch of Nickelback or Norah Jones (or whatever the flavor of the month is) at $15 and up, while the Planbees of the world get a few bucks off an old Dave Brubeck CD that has been sitting in the bins forever. Borders still comes out ahead, in my book.

 

Read the fine print of the coupons - I don't think they're good for special orders...

 

I think the strategy with the coupons is to reduce music inventory and get people into the stores so they might also look at something other than music. The big money in the media department comes from the hit music and DVDs, not deep catalog titles. Stocking deep catalog music has been a losing strategy for brick-and-mortars; placing special orders makes more sense. Gift shoppers and affluent older customers will buy the top sellers at full retail without batting an eye, so why not eliminate all the dusty old catalog titles sitting around? Borders isn't losing money with the coupons, they're clearing out stagnant product, and if you happen to buy a cup of coffee while you shop, they're well in the green.

This strategy makes business sense, even though it keeps me out of the store. As I said earlier in this thread, I spent an evening in Borders trying to use that $9.99 coupon and couldn't find a single disc I wanted at that price. I'm not bitter about it, though. No brick-and-mortar retailer of new music could survive by appealing to people like me.

 

Bingo!

 

ALL of the Borders I went to while using this 40% coupon had difficulty with it. ALL of these Borders stores are in Southern California. I went to eight different Borders stores... and when so many clerks can't interpret these coupons, then it's a problem. EVERY store had to *study* the coupon... and they usually always do when a *new* coupon of this type comes along that they aren't familiar with. One would think that they would just trust a coupon when its says "Borders" on it... but they don't for whatever reason.

That being said, some of the stores couldn't differentiate between a single disc and a double disc set, so I was able to take advantage of this and acquire a 40% discount off 2CD sets.
The main problem I encountered was on the 3 titles per coupon limit. The coupon read "plain as day" to me... I don't know why the clerks had problems with them.

 

My WAG:
Usually, the coupons are printed with a barcode. This allows the people who program the registers to set things up so that [usually] the customer gets the best deal according to the rules on the coupon. In this way, the people behind the registers don't have to think that much about what they are doing (==lower wages).
I am guessing that because the coupon was intended to be regional, the programming to handle the coupon was not sent out to all of the stores, and hence the confusion among people who have never had to read the fine print on a coupon before.

Re: Catalog titles not making money.
Borders usually puts all of its big release CDs on sale for a period after they are released which usually cut things pretty darned close to the bone, margin-wise.
IMHO, with the right deep catalog, it is possible for a store to turn their inventory enough at full markup to make some money. Unfortunately, selling deep catalog is usually done better by people who have worked in music stores for a long time. And at the wages the stores can afford to pay while trying to compete with online stores, it ain't gonna happen.
We all killed the brick and mortar stores with our desire for lower prices and instant gratification. But you see, the prices weren't really lower online. Because they were shorting us something in the deal: service.

Cody

 

Well, I attempted to purchase something from the cafe once but the guy was too busy fussing over one particular customer, apparently someone with "money".

 

Yes they do, for "normal" catalog stuff, just not for obscure stuff (independent label).

 

That's not entirely true, because a lot of obscure and indie stuff is eligible to be used with the coupon. The coupons don't work for "non-stock special orders," which refers to items for which the Borders chain has not created item numbers. Tons of obscure imports and indie titles have Borders item numbers (I think they call them SKUs) just because they were assigned one at some point -- many items may have been assigned SKUs without any Borders store ever actually stocking them. When you place a special order, I'm pretty certain the clerk can tell you whether or not it's a non-stock item on the basis of whether or not a SKU for that item appears in their computer.

Many years ago Borders put their non-stock items on sale, all of which were probably unclaimed and refused special orders that ended up in the racks. I think they eventually marked them down as low as a dollar. I went through the racks and found a bunch of non-stock CDs the employees had neglected to pull and got some incredible deals. Where the item number was supposed to be on the sticker, there was just an "SPO" for "special order" and some zeroes. I took them to the counter and they put sale stickers on them for me.

 

30% off thru 10/12
http://www.bordersmedia.com/coup/coupons_erewards301005.htm

 

30% through 10/14

http://www.bordersmedia.com/coup/coupon_301011.htm

 

I was just paraphrasing. It's actually a little more complicated than that. It really doesn't have anything to do with if Borders has an item number (BINC) for it or not. It has to do with whether it comes from their direct distributor or not. If a special order has an "MO" on the order slip, then it is eligible for a coupon. If it has a "SO" than it is not eligible. Some stores don't check and that's cool for us, but many do it by the book and you often don't know if it's an "SO" or an "MO" until it has arrived in the store. Then, there are some stores that are totally ignorant that don't allow any coupons for an item that hasn't ever actually been in their in-store inventory. Those stores suck because they don't even know their own corportate policies.

 

Up to three (single disc) CDs for $11.99 a piece... only valid 10/15 and 10/16.

http://beta.bordersstores.com/online/store/BordersMediaView_coupon1199cd1015+

Might be useful if you're looking for a couple more Rolling Stones SACDs to finish your collection.

 

Or gold discs! Got Steve's Doobies Minute By Minute and the MFSL Lennon Mind Games today!

 

Good score on Mind Games for $11.99.

They don't have any gold disks in Utah stores.

 

I was thinking the same thing about the gold discs but someone got the MFSL Surfer Rosa by Pixies that I saw a few weeks back!

Ended up leaving without anything

 

Someone oughta grab the Yes -Fragile MFSL disc!

 

I scored the MOFI Allman Brothers "Idlewild South"! $29.99 for $11.99! Yes!

 

Well, I did get one after all.. another MFSL Ronstadt, for $11.99. The only MFSL in the store.

There were absolutely no Stones SACDs left.

There is another Borders farther away (Provo) that I didn't check.

The cashier dude was pretty impressed by the good deal I got.

 

Dang, I'm sorry I missed that $11.99 coupon. Hopefully they will run it again.

 

Shoot, I missed this entirely. I only found out about it through a reference to the coupon in another thread in the music section.

When the coupon is this good, could someone PLEASE start a new thread with the pertinent info in the subject line? I am sure I'm not the only one who missed it because it was hidden in this generic thread. (Most Borders coupons are not nearly as hot...)

Kwad

 

(In my best "Condoleeza Rice" voice): I believe the thread I started was entitled, "11.99 gold discs at Borders".