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rfmcdonaldThe collapse of the American Borders bookstore chain is sad indeed for booklovers like me.
Those of you who know me will know why I'm very glad that Borders' collapse doesn't necessarily say bad things about bookselling as a whole, especially not in Canada where the local megabookstore chain is nimbler.
What of, the article concludes, of all those communities which saw the collapse of their local booksellers in the face of Borders only to be left without bookstores altogether now? Niche bookstores may still exist, even thrive, with sufficiently devoted customers and well-designed plans, but they are niche bookstores by definition. They cater to highly-specific demographics in communities with sufficient population to support a niche interest. Even in Toronto, places like This Ain't the Rosedale Library have collapsed utterly. For market reasons alone, you are not going to find a thriving queer bookstore deep in rural Canada.
Successful niche bookstores need committed customers. Can these now Borders-less communities return adopt the strategy of these viable small bookstores? Or, lacking sufficiently devoted customers, will they be left with online shopping and few to no bookstores at all?
(The second sentence in the paragraph above was, mostly, a rhetorical question.)
I'm a fan of public libraries. I'm also a fan of bookstores for the same reason. It's a shame some communities will be left without the second, especially if--as seems possible in this time of austerity--many of these communities lack the first. Meat-space reading communities matter.
Gone, beginning in less than a week, will be the 399 stores left over after its Chapter 11 filing in February. They include six in the Bay Area - in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Santa Rosa (two stores) and Vacaville. Approximately 10,700 employees nationwide will be let go.
"It doesn't surprise me," said a clerk at the Stonestown Galleria store in San Francisco, who did not wish to be named. "In some ways, I'm surprised it took this long."
The final straw for the Ann Arbor, Mich., company came Sunday night when the bidding deadline closed with no offers besides the one "stalking horse" bid from a group of liquidators led by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners.
Earlier in the day, the one interested buyer - Najafi Companies, a Phoenix investment firm that owns the Book of the Month Club - declared it was pulling out, having failed to arouse much enthusiasm from Borders' creditors, including book publishers and landlords.
Rumors of a last-minute deal with a smaller bookstore chain, Books-A-Million, for a few dozen Borders stores appeared to be just that, and on Monday afternoon, we got the news.
Those of you who know me will know why I'm very glad that Borders' collapse doesn't necessarily say bad things about bookselling as a whole, especially not in Canada where the local megabookstore chain is nimbler.
"We were all working hard toward a different outcome, but the headwinds we have been facing for quite some time, including the rapidly changing book industry, eReader revolution, and turbulent economy, have brought us to where we are now," said Borders Group President Mike Edwards.
It was Borders' failure to anticipate and tack into the winds that brought about its demise, book industry insiders and analysts have said.
"We had years of stupid management," said the Borders clerk, who has worked at the Stonestown Galleria store for the past 10 years. "Mostly, they were investors and merchandisers, with little knowledge of the book business."
Neither were there any saviors with the requisite expertise willing to step forward "to operate it as a viable company," said Michael Tucker, past president of the American Booksellers Association, who is also CEO of the Bay Area independent book chain Books Inc.
What of, the article concludes, of all those communities which saw the collapse of their local booksellers in the face of Borders only to be left without bookstores altogether now? Niche bookstores may still exist, even thrive, with sufficiently devoted customers and well-designed plans, but they are niche bookstores by definition. They cater to highly-specific demographics in communities with sufficient population to support a niche interest. Even in Toronto, places like This Ain't the Rosedale Library have collapsed utterly. For market reasons alone, you are not going to find a thriving queer bookstore deep in rural Canada.
Successful niche bookstores need committed customers. Can these now Borders-less communities return adopt the strategy of these viable small bookstores? Or, lacking sufficiently devoted customers, will they be left with online shopping and few to no bookstores at all?
(The second sentence in the paragraph above was, mostly, a rhetorical question.)
I'm a fan of public libraries. I'm also a fan of bookstores for the same reason. It's a shame some communities will be left without the second, especially if--as seems possible in this time of austerity--many of these communities lack the first. Meat-space reading communities matter.
