Borders' Struggle: Plan To Open Mini Pop-Up Holiday Stores

publishersweekly.com:

After closing hundreds of stores over the last year, Borders Group announced Tuesday morning that it is jumping on one of retailing's hottest trends--pop-up stores. Borders will open 25 seasonal Borders Express stores nationwide beginning October 25 and will operate them through January 31.

Read the whole story: publishersweekly.com

Comments

[firecoalman]

01:29 PM on 09/29/2010

When Borders showed up in the 90's they seemed like a miracle, albeit on a preexiting European model. Previously chain stores would not provide places to sit and read, only the independent stores that Borders elbowed into nonexistence. But their initial stocks included then-impossible-to-acquire foreign publications, so I was seduced. They also rode the coffee-den trend that was soon monopolized by Starbucks. Over time, they never restocked the small and foreign press books and the foreign newspapers disappeared (since now we could read them on the internet). They rapidly became indistinguishable from other chain stores. The staff were uninformed and uncaring, unable to fill a special order even if you had the correct title of a recent award-winning pub. In the end, Amazon ate their lunch because there you can fill your own order, correctly, at the lowest price possible. But yet I'm still reading through the great stuff I did get from them 15 years ago. Their demise was inevitable, but I still have fond memories. But I also have fond memories of the independent stores they put out of business. Mixed feelings all around.

[berserk]

10:13 AM on 09/29/2010

Borders need better pastries.

[Lev Raphael]

09:04 AM on 09/29/2010

Quick! Alert the GOP that our borders are under threat!

What?

Borders book stores?

Oh. That's very different.

Never mind!

(We miss you Emily Littela.)

[ClassicLeft]

06:48 AM on 09/29/2010

Because people only buy dead tree books as gifts?
Or maybe people only read during the holidays?
Nah.. this idea doesn't make any sense. I have 400 books on my ebook reader. Don't they know you can download books now?

[Puffin16]

09:59 AM on 09/29/2010

I'm one of the people who wants to hold the book in my hands and turn the pages. I look at a computer all day at work, so when I come home the last thing I want to do is curl up with my ebook reader.

[Classof89]

11:05 AM on 09/29/2010

I agree. And not everyone has the luxury of affording those things, especially during these hard times. If you don't have things like an IPod, IPad, IPhone, EBook, or any other current hot gadgets, people act as though you're not normal.

I say if they want those things, then by all means, go for it. Their choice. My choice is to not be a part of the clique, read a book in my hands and love turning the pages. I'm not the type that has to have 24-hour access to every technological device under the sun.

[Jerome Morrow]

12:23 PM on 09/29/2010

Well to be honest, not all e-readers use the same kind of eye-strain producing backlit screen like your computer. The Kindle and others use an e-ink screen that's not backlit LCD. So it doesn't feel like you are reading a computer screen.

It's like the printed page except that you can change font size and use a built-in dictionary. And it's much lighter to hold and you can have your entire book series in one hand. Just sayin....

[Jerome Morrow]

12:33 PM on 09/29/2010

It always makes me smile when I see all the people who say the love the "smell and feel of a book as they turn pages", which doesn't really give credit to the written word. Did they love the smell and feel of the really, really bad book that they didn't finish?

It's the story that people love so much, and I read a LOT more now that I have a Kindle e-book reader. It's faster and more convenient to use. I find it amazing to see that each generation is resistant to the change that it used to celebrate.

The people who used to drive their parents crazy with their new vid games and music and hair are now the ones saying that they'll never read e-books. But their kids are laughing at them. And me too. Why does everyone have to become an out-of-touch old person once they hit 40ish!? :)

E-books is a way SAVE literature, not kill it. But the real sadness is that hardly anyone reads anymore. That's the evil, not e-books...

[ClassicLeft]

03:08 PM on 09/29/2010

Ebook readers is a great incentive for people to reed more.

The only big draw back is DRM. You can't lend or sell your books anymore. Books don't have any tangible value. But the same can be said with music, and movies. You pay for the content, have the content delivered to you, you use it or consume it. And that's the end of it.