Forum - View topicNEWS: Borders Books' Losses Rise to US$132 Million in April
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Youkai Warrior
 Posts: 505 Location: Sarayashiki |
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Oh no, this doesn't sound good.
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darcerin
Posts: 330 |
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That's a hell of a lot of money to lose in one month. Hopefully this is one of those "darkest before the dawn" scenarios, but even Barnes & Noble is looking to sell off, so the big chain book store era might well be over.
I really don't want to be forced into a corner and have to buy a Nook, Kindle, or whatever, but if the trend continues, we may have little choice. What's Amazon looking like, btw? |
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yamiangie
 Posts: 465 |
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i thought the idea was to save money by closing stores. I guess selling off all the sock cheap is why they lost money
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Ashen Phoenix
 Posts: 2946 |
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As long as I have even a little money to my name I'll support the physical book industry. I don't have anything against e-books or e-readers and can see the benefits they offer, but by and large I can't fathom not being able to hold a real world piece of literature and thumb through its pages. Things'll get better for Borders. I believe that. I won't allow any other thoughts to reach me. |
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Teriyaki Terrier
 Posts: 5689 |
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Borders is done for. They might have had a chance a while ago, but to lose that much injunction with with with what they lost most recently.
I heard they might sell off the business entirely and this news will only further make that option more of a reality. |
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Happiness for Subaru
 Subscriber Posts: 242 |
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child of Lilith
 Posts: 137 Location: Egg of Lilith ( the black moon) |
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This really sucks. I've always liked Borders.
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GeorgeC
Posts: 795 |
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Borders IS dead... Accept it. Cut the umbilical cord and don't look back.
Trust me -- it's less painful that way. It's been at least a month-and-a-half since the last time I stepped into a Borders. That Borders was actually Store # 2 -- the second one opened in the chain's history back in 1991. That was the prettier of the two locations that USED to be open in Columbus, Ohio. It's gone now... I think the other store has closed, too, but I haven't been in that area for at least two months now. I swore to myself I'd never go back after that last day, that last purchase. The store was at least one-third empty with furnishings and shelves already marked for sale. It was depressing. Sad truth is that in a better economy, a much better management team might have been able to turn around the sorry state of affairs. Borders HASN'T had good management in something close to a decade now and they were locked into high-rent leases they weren't able to negotiate downwards. (High-rent leases also helped killed a number of other chains, too. CompUSA, Circuit City anyone??? I understand when this happens in downtown Chicago -- that is one ridiculously expensive city to live in (!) -- but they must have signed some bad leasing deals all over the country.) Those of us with eyes open and NOT in blinders could see what was going on as the DVD and music sections shrank and management was desperate to glom onto things like emo kids book lines, teen romance B.S., and manga as they rearranged deck chairs on the RMS Titanic --, er Borders. Those are sure signs of both desperation and utter cluelessness in what to do with a declining business. (Truth be told, I've never understood WHY management feels the need to re-arrange stores, period. It just pisses off customers and confuses staff. They have to re-learn where everything is all over again!!!!) Mark my words --- Barnes & Noble doesn't have much longer, either. They apparently have a lease issue, too, and Nook isn't going to save them, either. The days of these big chain, large-volume bookstores IS numbered. They are dinosaurs and the way they're structured means they WILL all become extinct. We'll still have individual large stores (that CAN afford to pay the rent!), smaller chains like Books-A-Million (for at least a while longer), and I don't think used bookstores will go away, either. It's a darn shame that B. Dalton and Waldenbooks had to be taken down by Borders and Barnes & Noble. The day of the economical small bookstore you used to see in every good mall is about over, too. The small mom & pop store is cooked, too, unless they can find and grow a local clientele. Between them, Borders AND B & N pretty much destroyed all the older M & P stores with the exception of some better-managed stores that managed to maintain a regular customer base. People go for better deals and variety, unfortunately... I saw one Boston bookstore that was around for well over 20 years complain as they closed their brick-and-mortar location about how mean the larger stores were. Bitching about the other businesses and people's buying habits will win neither sympathy nor customers. P.S. -- Said former Boston-area bookstore is still in business as an online presence. They don't have a browsing brick-and-mortar location. Ironically, they're more like Amazon -- shipping books from central storage/warehouse. Won't say anything else other to mention that they're named after the author of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." |
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firedragon54738
 Posts: 3113 Location: wisconsin |
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Well there only one hope left and that if some on buys borders or learn Japanese and move to japan
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14889 |
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Hahahahaha............You've Got Mail! Ah, even those days of big vs. small is gone. Feels like that movie wasn't so long ago.... 
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adam_omega
 Posts: 256 Location: Seven Seas |
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One of the reasons Borders likely posted such a debt this month is due to the fact that the publishing houses are requiring that Borders pay them upfront for any books they want shipped.
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Sacto0562
Posts: 288 |
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I think the problem with bookstores nowadays is that many new books are now available without even having to BUY a physical copy.
I have an Apple iPad 2 and using the Amazon Kindle app, I got the much-talked about book Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN in just five seconds over the Internet. That's a lot faster than having to drive to a nearby bookstore, buy a physical copy, and then come back home to start reading. Is it small wonder why Barnes & Noble aggressively invested in the e-book reader market with the Nook series of e-book readers? Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised that within five years new chapters of manga series translated to English from Japanese will be available within a few days of its release in Japan at a very reasonable cost per chapter on e-book readers like an iPad or Android-based devices. With the prices of e-book readers going one way--straight down--anyone who has access to a Wi-Fi network will soon be able to download almost any printed material at amazingly fast speeds. But yet, I think there will an all-out attempt to save the Barnes & Noble chain. Barnes & Noble--unlike Borders--has a very viable online mail-order and e-book business, and that makes the chain very attractive to potential investors in the longer run (why do you think the Liberty Media network wants the chain?). And I think there will be other potential investors waiting in the wings, too. |
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Kyaa the Catlord
Posts: 300 |
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Its like Media Play all over again.
Except, Borders has better coffee. |
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redranger
 Posts: 271 |
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Stop reading manga online.
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stonehand
Posts: 49 |
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You keep believing that while those of us who actually work there are hoping for the end of this nightmare to come. It's like working in a theater of the absurd. Bleeding money out the rear, yet offering 30-40% of coupons, B4G1Free promos, and now a 30% off total purchase promo. Constantly being hounded to sell Borders Rewards+ cards and Kobos, while knowing that we could be closed tomorrow. |
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