Borders, which pioneered the idea that a bookstore could be more like a combination of a library and your living room — a welcome place to hang out and browse and relax and not just buy — filed for bankruptcy protection last week. The chain is a victim of the harsh realities of operating a massive bricks and mortar operation as your product turns to bytes.
Whether Borders thrives or disappears in the coming years, it is a poster child of life in the age of media disruption.
Many stores will close, we already know. And in Ann Arbor, where the company started, it is ground zero for nostalgia.
"This city’s connection to Borders is as much emotional as financial," AnnArbor.com said in an editorial. "It was the sophisticated book-lovers of Ann Arbor who provided the original audience for Borders to emerge and grow. In turn, Borders changed the book-buying experience with its impressive inventory, its come-in-and-browse-a-while ambiance, and particularly with its knowledgeable, helpful staff."
In a letter to members of its award program, CEO Mike Edwards took pains to assure that nothing is changing for now (apart from store closings).
There is a Borders in my town, and it is not one of the approximately 200 stores targeted for closing. For those of you who have never subscribed to a print newspaper, or remember a time that you had to go to a big bookstore to find something that wasn't today's best seller — or who only know chain bookstores from your local mall — the quiet discovery possible in such a place isn't something to give up lightly.
For those of you who especially enjoy Sunday in a bookstore where they are glad to see you, here are some images of Borders locations here and there. Some were closing years ago, but they are no less sad.
Have a Borders picture you'd like to include in this gallery?
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