End of a Brief Era....Borders Books Shuts Down
 

Which means over 10,000 more people unemployed.

Some will say "this is ok, the industry is transitioning to the internet" which would be true, but it's BAD for society.

People have been gathering at Borders in a social manner for years. They browse, sip coffee and chat and maybe even meet new people. For such a benefit to our society to transition to "THE INTERNETS" is basically the continued decay of American society.

The more we sit in front of our pc's, laptops and smart phones, the more we decay and degrade. And the sad thing is that it seems too many Americans are ok with this trend. As if it's all inevitable and good. The truth is, it's neither.

Re: End of a Brief Era....Borders Books Shuts Down
 

I think the nail to the coffin were the electronic books, like Kindle. This is more about the evolution of consumerism. The only reason someone pumps your gas in New Jersey is because its the law. Newspapers are of course on that list and if the post office doesn't change they will also become obsolete, tho the Gov. might prop them up for who knows how long.

Re: End of a Brief Era....Borders Books Shuts Down
 

The 2010's suck:D

Re: End of a Brief Era....Borders Books Shuts Down
 

All this talk by conservatives about how we have to "protect the Borders" was just a bunch of BS.

Re: End of a Brief Era....Borders Books Shuts Down
 

Borders is gone but how many more coffee shops are there today versus 20 years ago?

I have a negative view of Borders that may be unfair, but my nearest store sucked. Horrible layout, not well maintained, bad employees. And they were just down the block from a great Barnes & Noble and 2 specialty book shops. I was glad to see that particular Borders go, because it was a waste of space imo.

I'm more unhappy about great independents going out of business than Borders -- we have Barnes & Noble to go with Amazon, I just hope more independents will now succeed with one bricks-and-mortar competitor out of the way. (There was a fantastic independent in Brentwood (near Santa Monica -- right near the OJ "incident") that shut down a few years ago that I still miss. Just a great store: great selection, very knowledgeable staff, quirky layout, etc.)

Re: End of a Brief Era....Borders Books Shuts Down
 

I'd say that's inevitable when your largest competitor is able to largely escape the burden of sales taxes.

Re: End of a Brief Era....Borders Books Shuts Down
 

Full retail on books and $4.00 coffee, no thanks to either Borders or Barnes & Noble. I'll stick with my Ipad and Dunkin' Donuts.

Re: End of a Brief Era....Borders Books Shuts Down
 

Amazon seems to escape the wrath of the tax man...

Re: End of a Brief Era....Borders Books Shuts Down
 

Yeah, but did they buy books?

The service at the Border's coffee shops was terrible here...compared to someplace like Starbucks or even Dunkin Donut's there wasn't even a comparison. Wasn't even in the same league.

Their book and bookish incidental prices were high, the lay-out sucked and the service wasn't all that great - at least not at any of the Borders I've been to - and I've been to them in several states.

I'm always surprised at you for complaining about Internet sales and things - don't you work from home yourself? I presume, if you do, that it's a good thing for you or you wouldn't do it - so why condemn anything else that operates via computer or anyone else who chooses to do anything from their home rather than leaving it to accomplish the same things?

Re: End of a Brief Era....Borders Books Shuts Down
 

But does have to deal with shipping costs and time?

I wouldn't call it inevitable. There are pros and cons to both business models.