Just because headquarters can't figure out how to make your location viable does not mean you can't. You've got loyal customers, you know the shelves. You've been sitting behind the cash register for years now saying, "If it was up to me..." So, do it! Organize, approach Borders and say, "Okay, let's figure out a way to be creative here." They might be happy to have a positive PR spin.
Then track down the landlord and talk with them, they don't want a vacant hole in the wall, they want a tenant, because one tenant makes it more attractive for other tenants. So maybe you can work out a deal. Just give 'em a call.
Get people involved. Invite local school kids to come up with a name for your store. Hold a social where the members of your sci-fi book club mingle with your romantic novel book club members. Hold a contest for local musicians to write your radio jingle and then crowd source the funding to run the ad. Invite the high school debate team to come and debate electronic vs. classic books. Get local reporters to report on the story of "The Little Bookshop That Could." Invite local banjo players to accompany authors at readings (okay! bad idea!)
Yes, it's true that some forces are working against you, but when isn't that true in life? And yes, there are fewer independent bookstores out there, but you know why? Places like Borders put them out of business. So, Border's demise gives the indie a fighting chance, right? In fact, quite a few independent bookstores are doing pretty well. Word bookstore in Greenpoint, Book Court in Cobble Hill, and in our own rough and tumble downtown Detroit, Leopold's Books has been chugging along with an eclectic mix of quirky books, graphic novels, and offbeat magazines. There's a customer in there every time I stop by and they're always buying something.
The good news is there is help out there. After battling the mega book chains for years, the independent bookstores have come up with a wealth of tools to help the independent bookstore succeed. Poke around online, you'll see. Don't be depressed, this is going to be interesting. Don't be discouraged, okay, well, be a little discouraged, but just have a beer and order a pizza and then come out swinging. Sell what you love and talk about it all the time. Be creative and have fun.
No store can possibly survive without it.
Nor should it.
Especially now, with the advent of e-books.
Sorry to inject this bit of reality. I really do wish that the idea was more practical, but alas, the state of the economy has made it almost impossible. But should any readers of this article still wish to try, the best of luck to you.
If this seems overly dour, the feel-good in this suggestion doesn't do a good job of acknowledging how hard it's become for anyone to realize their dreams of personal success - and success, here, being the older version where you make ends meet and do something you love, which is, I know, anathema to the current version of The Dream.
Yes, it will be a plus for current and future independent book stores. Like Walmart did for Main Street, Borders and Chapters did for independents. With Borders out of the picture, independents will have a fighting chance at survival. Independents thrive by offering choices not available in the "mass market only" chains. They can even be regional tourist draws: as Canadians living in B.C., we've made a number of 3-day trips to Portland, Oregon due to, among other factors, the great downtown Powells Books ('largest book store in the world").
On the other hand, hundreds of Borders ex-employees now will be joining millions of out-of-work Americans, and their prospects at the moments look dim indeed.
You mention the store in Detroit, and to pump us up with entrepreneurial fervor, you say, "there's a customer in there every time I stop by." Wow, a whole customer!!!
An old joke is appropriate here:
How do you make a small fortune selling books?
Start with a large fortune.
I've always liked the very wealthy people I talk to at work who seemed to think I worked retail because I liked it and chose that path - as it was unimaginable to them that anyone would ever have to do something other than what they wanted.
And get your neighbors to help finance your buy-out:
http://www.newrules.org/retail/article/grassroots-financing-underwriting-new-crop-neighborhood-businesses
US Bookseller Giant Borders Files for Bankruptcy
Bookseller Borders, which helped pioneer superstores that put countless small local bookshops out of business, filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday, sunk by crushing debt and sluggishness in adapting to a rapidly changing industry. http://www.newslook.com/videos/291292-us-bookseller-giant-borders-files-for-bankruptcy?autoplay=true
I don't think that the passing of paper-and-ink is a positive thing to celebrate. Knowledge passes through several thousands of years in this form. It remains to be seen if electronic form can survive that long.
Aplle music really didn't change much in the music industry - juste dshifted the cchairs a little.