The Global credit crisis break Borders (The book store)

[Urien]

Borders has put itself up for sale. I rather like Border's stores.

Borders becomes latest credit casualty - Telegraph

 

[Ursa major]

Looks more like a "profits-crunch" - that's my new euphemism for a whacking great loss. (And this is what you get when private equity gets its claws into you.)

I won't comment on the brand, Borders, in a globalising world.

 

[Pyan]

But given the alternative here (WHSmith, anyone?) this is bad news for me....

 

[Tillane]

Really bad news. I now have Waterstones and no one else.

 

[chopper]

this is similar to how the market for particular products has affected my line of retail, taking out one chain at a time. my nearest Borders is Leeds, and i quite like the place. i hope they manage to hang on somehow, but i don't see how they can compete in what is a rather crowded marketplace.

 

[Rane Longfox]

I've only ever had Waterstones (and, before they got bought, Ottakers), so this aint such big news for me. I'm fairly sure there is a Borders somewhere in Manchester, but I've never seen it...

 

[Overread]

hmm I have always found Boarders stores much much better for fantasy, sci-fi manga(well they stock more I don't know much more than that) and generally cater for geeks better than Waterstones ever do!
This is bad news indeed

 

[jenna]

Yes, the one at the centre in which my company has just opened a store has a very pleasing ratio of sci-fi/fantasy to mainstream. I only went in there for the first time a couple of days ago, as I'm a stuck-in-my-ways type person and prefer Dymocks (or Angus & Roberston in a press), but I hope Borders sticks around...

 

[K. Riehl]

I worked for the "other big chain" for more than a decade. My company recognized in the late 90'S that they needed to stick to what they know best and not take such a large position in music sales. Much of Borders vulnerablity came from the downward spiral of music, the failure to develop their own website, and not having their own book warehouse/distribution system. They have been trying to get other companies to buy them since 2003.

They had to pay more per book than the other chain as they didn't have their own warehouses. Their book orders take 1-2 weeks where the other chain gets the book in 2-5 days. The other chain takes back books from the website, with some exceptions. Borders website was a failure and they turned it over to another company to run, thus less profitability.
All of this doesn't make them an attractive buy but there is enough basic goodwill and structure that I am sure someone will buy them. Pennies on the dollar but it will get done. I would guess that the least profitable 10-20% of the stores will get closed.

 

[Pyan]

Their book orders take 1-2 weeks where the other chain gets the book in 2-5 days.

They seemed to have sorted that out, at least in the UK, because they now offer a guaranteed 2 days from order to delivery to the store, if they're available.

Probably too little, too late, though...I gave up, after trying several times to order books there, being told they can't get them in this country, then finding them in Forbidden Planet, or Waterstones.

 

[K. Riehl]

1-2 days by paying more for each book from a local distributor. They probably lost money on mass markets(they have to pay for the freight), broke even or made pennies on trade size, they made about 50% of what they would usually make on a hardcover. They had to match what their competitors were offering and lost money in the process. And, as in your case Pyan, they lost customers too.

 

[The Ace]

I have to admit, I've never been in a Borders branch, so I can't really comment. They may have branches in Edinburgh or Glasgow, but to most foreigners, that's all of Scotland anyway.

Bookshops going to the wall is always bad news, though.

 

[williamjm]

But given the alternative here (WHSmith, anyone?) this is bad news for me....

If I'm interpreting the article and Wikipedia correctly then Borders UK is now a separate company so should not be too badly effected by this, although it would not be surprising if Borders UK has similar problems with competition from Internet retailers. I hope they don't close down, because it is probably the best bookshop in Cambridge in terms of the range of books, although they should maybe give up on the CD or DVD sections which don't seem able to compete with other stores.

 

[Werthead]

My home town has two Waterstones less than a minute's walk from one another and both seem to be thriving.

WH Smiths seems to be struggling, though. The book section has shrunk and SF&F is now relegated to a single shelf dominated by Goodkind, Jordan, GRRM, the two Hamiltons (the good PF and the bad LK), Gaiman and Gemmell. Finding a non-blockbuster there is impossible.

Oddly, I found The Works to be a good source of cheap SF. Whilst it doesn't hae a seperate SF&F section, I usually pick up one or two bargains every time I go in there, such as the trade paperback of Cry of the Newborn for a whopping £2.

In my temporary home here in Galway, we have a grand total of one bookstore, a local independent, with a really good SF section (although that one is really good, quite big with its own bestseller chart and related YA and kids' SF stacked alongside it). Every other bookship has a rubbish SF selection.

 

[Grimward]

Here in suburban Wash. D.C. there are plenty of book stores, the trick is finding the one with the great SFF section!

I agree with Ace, though; losing a bookstore in never a good thing.

EDIT: And my father has a tradition of taking his grand kids to Borders for their birthdays and letting them pick a book or two, so it'd be great to see them stick around a while longer. If they've truly been up for sale since 2003, it would seem that the large loss is of more immediate concern...

 

[Lucien21]

There are plenty of Waterstones in Edinburgh, but I suppose Borders is the closest bookshop to where I live. There is a big Borders at Kinnaird Park on the outskirts of Edinburgh and it has a fairly decent Sci-Fi section.

Can't say I use it that often as I tend to use the independant Scifi shop or Waterstones near my work for my purchases.

 

[williamjm]

There are plenty of Waterstones in Edinburgh, but I suppose Borders is the closest bookshop to where I live. There is a big Borders at Kinnaird Park on the outskirts of Edinburgh and it has a fairly decent Sci-Fi section.

Can't say I use it that often as I tend to use the independant Scifi shop

Is that Transreal Fiction? It is a good bookshop. Borders in Edinburgh also had a good selection, but when I lived in Edinburgh it was a long way from where I lived so I didn't go there much.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

This is not good news for me. The local Borders here has a MUCH larger scifi/fantasy section than Barnes and Noble. (Those are really the only two bookstore we have). I much prefer Borders to just browse through and walk around. Hopefully they will stick around awhile longer.