Creative Destruction and the Death of Borders Books

At the Independent Institute's blog, Anthony Gregory celebrates today's announcement that the Borders bookstore chain is nearing extinction:

Several years ago book stores like Borders were  the subject of leftist animus. How dare they crush the smaller competition. Little book stores of all sorts were being pushed aside as these gigantic buildings that featured all sorts of titles, new and old, were being introduced into the strip-mall landscape, town by town, neighborhood by neighborhood. Surely these corporate giants, undercutting the competition from mom and pop shops, would dominate the sector forever, having consolidated their share of the market and defeated the poor small stores forever.

But today Borders is on the verge of collapse. It seems the business model is losing out, especially to online sales at Amazon.com….

The failure of Borders is a beautiful thing, coming as it does from the market process. If voluntary competition should one day bring Amazon.com down, in the midst of a competing commercial success today unimaginable but even more friendly to consumers than that wonderful online store,  we will again have reason to celebrate.

Comments

[Tim Cavanaugh]

A a corporation, Borders blew it on the worldwide cybertubes. But I do miss the Hollywood Borders at Vine and Sunset. The staff was always helpful and courteous, they had a good children's section, and their enlightened token-op bathroom policy made it convenient to take your kids for a oui-oui while not having the toilet become a campground for the homeless.

[Hugh Akston]

It was a nice complement to Amoeba across the way. I dunno how Borders ever sold a CD there.

[Mango Punch]

You've Got Mail

[Almanian]

The failure of Borders is a beautiful thing, coming as it does from the market process. If voluntary competition should one day bring Amazon.com down, in the midst of a competing commercial success today unimaginable but even more friendly to consumers than that wonderful online store, we will again have reason to celebrate.

Thus endeth the lesson. Amen.

I do love me some Amazon.com. Just got a Vox wah wah pedel for the Strat/Marshall, plus a Bestop soft top for my (hardtop)Jeep, plus a bunch of Robin Trower CD's (which are now "ol skool" - lol)....oh, and a shitload of books, including a number referred by REasonoids right here at teh Haych-n-Are.

It's a Fucking. Miracle.

Let freedom ring.

[dunphy]

hey, i'm a guitarist myself. do you have any recommendations for software for home recording etc? i did a lot of 4 track recording back in the day (college) and i'm totally out of the loop with what's available these days for computers. btw, i'm a tele man myself, although my favorite axe is my ibanez hollow body electric.

[Douglas Fletcher]

Look up ntrack.com. It's an italian guy who has a simple to use program for something like $65. I used it some years ago to record and mix a CD that sounded fine. All the official tech types will tell you to get something that costs 3 times as much but this will have everything you'll reasonably need.

[Douglas Fletcher]

Oh yeah, and stay away from Audacity. It is free but it is horrible.

[Old Man With Candy]

There's Reaper and there's everything else.

[dunphy]

i don't know. i've heard that program has a lot to be afraid of. i fear it...

maybe it needs more cowbell...

[Almanian]

With that said, I also spent a fair amount of time at Borders. Like Michigan needs another bidness failure, but the fact that they're based in The People's Republic of Ann Arbor offers some sugar with the medicine.

[A Serious Man]

Eh, I buy my textbooks from Amazon among other things, but I do like the feeling of browsing books at a store like Borders so in that regard I'm sorry to see it go.

[Pro Libertate]

This is my reaction as well. I like bookstores, including the big chains, but I tend to buy most books through Amazon.

I briefly thought about buying a small bookstore some time ago (in between jobs), and the research I did indicated that bookstores remained viable, provided that you did a certain percentage of business online--I think it was 30-40%. I'm sure a big chunk of that business had to be through Amazon and/or eBay.

[Hugh Akston]

Once someone figures out how to combine the raw inventory and distribution power of Amazon with the go-down-the-street-and-get-it'edness of your local bookstore, they will make some money.

[cynical]

Already doable, if you aren't too attached to physical books.

[Tulpa]

And if you don't mind having to either memorize page numbers or look through books one page at a time. And if you don't mind Amazon deleting your book without your consent.

[Rhywun]

For which they were loudly & universally criticized and would be stupid to try again.

[Al Wayswright]

Ah, have you not heard of e-books? Why go down the street. How about go into your living room?

[Episiarch]

I buy my e-books through Amazon and they download to my Kindle on Whispernet in a few minutes. It's a level of convenience that's almost sexually arousing. Well, for pervs like you, that is.

[Pro Libertate]

At least I don't have duck feet.

I like the Kindle, but it's not replacing books for me just yet. I'm reading my first massive tome on it--The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged, it's around 1,300 pages). I own the book version, but thought I'd try it out on the Kindle.

[Spnge]

Kindle is not a book, its a computer, i like the feeling of actually reading printed pages, and going to boookstores (i do buy some online) but for the most part its a lovely sat or sun afternon when i can go to barnes and noble, buy a book and read it with a coffee, you cant do that online, and its not the same with a kindle. (disclamer, i still read the paper daily and i am only 34)

[Episiarch]

buy a book and read it with a coffee, you cant do that online, and its not the same with a kindle

Uh, have you ever used a Kindle, dude? Because what you just said is horseshit. The Kindle is better than a book if you want to get a coffee and read outside, or read by the pool, etc. It doesn't require you to hold it open, or turn pages, or have a bookmark. You can place it right on the table and it doesn't close on you. You can read it in the brightest sunlight.

You sound like a Luddite who just is unwilling to try new technology. Seriously, the Kindle is awesome and crushes books in terms of readability, ergonomics, capacity, everything. If they ever make them waterproof, they will be the greatest thing since sliced bread.

[JW]

I won't disagree with a single thing you said, but I still like me books.

[Episiarch]

If it wasn't a stupid waste of money, I would love to get every paper book I have as an e-book downloaded to my Kindle (and a spare) and then get rid of the paper books for good. Then I would have everything at my fingertips at all times, and no meatspace shit clogging up my shelves.

You can put 3500 books on a Kindle. What do I need paper for?

[Tulpa]

Too bad you can't buy an e-book used, at least not with any of the current market players.

[Pro Libertate]

The lack of a first sale doctrine in ebooks is a serious flaw. I've bought a lot of books secondhand, and the idea of paying full price for ebooks is irksome. I've bought a few books for the Kindle, but I use it mostly to read public domain works.

Note that ebooks are susceptible to the same issues the record industry encountered with pirate, peer-to-peer sharing.

[SIV]

What about illustrations?

[Mike Laursen]

Bagge's comics in the Kindle reader version of reason magazine are impossible to read. Which sucks because they are my favorite articles.

[Pro Libertate]

I read something about a color e-reader being in development.

[nicole]

Kindle still can't replicate the flip-through experience of a book, which is a big deal for me. I do love my Kindle, but I have certain types of books I want on the Kindle (e.g., contemporary fiction I probably won't re-read, lighter fiction I might re-read but won't be thinking too hard about, narrative nonfiction, public-domain classics I don't expect to love) and others I still know I want on paper (e.g., classics I do expect to love and thus re-read, novels by my favorite authors because I like having them on the shelf, etc.). I really don't see myself moving away from this model--never in my life am I not going to want to have a real paper copy (or five...) of Moby-Dick on the shelf. And the notes/highlights I can make on the Kindle are in many ways not actually as useful to me as the Post-It flags I put in paper books, which encourage me to flip around back and forth.

Also, I have a semi-photographic memory and rely pretty heavily on the fact that I know which part of the page I saw a particular line on. Since the Kindle doesn't maintain constant pagination, that just doesn't work on it. The searchability assuages this somewhat, but not totally.

Not to mention that there's something to be said for books as objects. Many small publishing houses are putting a lot of effort these days into creating a really beautiful product that can sometimes be an art object in itself.

[Al Wayswright]

"Flip through experience" -- could you explain what it is that you mean by such expression?

[nicole]

"Flip through experience" -- could you explain what it is that you mean by such expression?

Physically flipping through the pages of the book. I typically do this to refresh my memory of what happens, or what happens in what order, or exactly how far through a book certain important plot points occur, etc. I write a lot about the books I read so I spend a lot of time processing and re-thinking what I've read.

[Spnge]

yeah, but in a hurricane, once the kindle dies, or while camping boating etc, it becomes a useless piece of junk. I love new tech, but not in the books, i love the smell,feel and the action of turning a page, like its soooo hard.

[Bob]

My friend's boss gave him his old Kindle 2. Then my friend figured out it had a dead battery. Sounds like it is hard and expensive to replace it. My friend is cheap so he gave it to me.
Thought I had found a cheap way to replace it myself with an online kit that has special tools (probably a thin screwdriver would work) but then I noticed it says it won't work with Model D0017 or something like that, which, of course, is the model I have. A new Kindle 2 is only $110 and it might cost $80 bucks to have the battery replaced, so that would be stupid. Now I have to wait and see if another friend's charger works on it, just on the off chance it is not the battery. Or I can wait until a Kindle or Nook is under $100.

[Luddite Hater]

Yeah!! All technology is wonderful and anybody who doesn't use the latest technology all the time is such an idiot!!! Why even talk to people when you can go online and socialize!! Talking to people is so old fashioned!! Why walk when you can just hop in the car!! Why go to music concerts when you can just listen to your ipod!! Why travel and sightsee when you can just look at everything online!! Why use old style ovens or a grill when you can just microwave everything!! Stupid Luddites!!

[Old Salt]

I have one question for all you digital adopters out there:

What the FUCKING HELL am I supposed to do when Amazon (or another digital media provider like Apple) rimjobs themself into bankruptcy or decides that their digital media service is no longer profitable?

Most of these distributions are proprietary in one form or the other and some are down right useless without regular contact with the company's servers like those DRM Nazi's over at Steam!

Do NOT be a fucktard and tell me that these companies will always be around and will always cater to the same industry because we all KNOW that sooner or later one of them will shit the bed and then all their customers get to hold hands and sing kumbaya while they get butt fucked by the "progress" they had such a hard-on for!

Prices for digital media are low for NOW but once it becomes the dominant market they will only go up! You really gonna shell out a few grand every time Barnes and Noble gets bought out by a new owner who decides that all the old customers needs to buy everything all over again! They'll tell you that your file format isn't compatible or some other bullshit but your NOT going to save much if any in the long run! What are you going to do? PRINT out War and Peace? No you won't because all of the paper publishers will be gone and you get to stand around with your cock flapping in the breeze while Amazon shakes you down like the Yakuza!

I have a Nook and I love the thing but B&N is already in some media tycoon's crosshairs who has said on record that the only thing he wants is their ebooks! Think a guy like that won't find a way to rape me in my own kitchen for more money to fill up his bedside cocaine bucket?

I love my nook and ipod but at least with the CD/DVD/BD/books sitting on my shelf I won't have to worry about Steve Jobs trying to kick me in my financial balls 20 years from now!

[Amakudari]

What the FUCKING HELL am I supposed to do when Amazon (or another digital media provider like Apple) rimjobs themself into bankruptcy or decides that their digital media service is no longer profitable?

Uh, usually when a company goes into bankruptcy or exits a business they try to sell that service. And you would still be able to charge your Kindle and read existing books. It's like asking what you'd do with your books published by Random House if they go out of business. Even if they abandon the business entirely they could at least make money from licensing readers for their particular format (and of course, such converters already exist in abundance).

I guess you'd be SOL if all companies forever stopped publishing e-readers and no tablet in existence would have a program capable of reading them.

Oh, and also, most e-readers support several unprotected file formats. So you could always buy from a non-Amazon/B&N/Apple vendor.

Prices for digital media are low for NOW but once it becomes the dominant market they will only go up!

Why? Serving e-books has very few barriers to entry -- unlike setting up a bookstore -- and those will further disappear as publishing becomes more commoditized. Any value added by publishers is likely to disappear gradually, and those savings would be passed on to consumers.

You really gonna shell out a few grand every time Barnes and Noble gets bought out by a new owner who decides that all the old customers needs to buy everything all over again!

Um, why would you buy the same books you already have in a different file format? This also sounds like the dumbest business move imaginable.

[Old Salt]

You're assuming that whoever buys a company in bankruptcy will actually WANT the service that they where providing you (it's like with Dan Akroyd and Callaghn Brakes in that he only wanted the company name and fuck all else). Not to mention I doubt that the ereaders will support open formats for too much longer since they're still trying to get people to convert to their new gospel (no profit in open source formats, ya know). And your "converter" programs are seen as piracy by the publishers (which was these programs intent to some degree) and they're gonna start using DRM like it's a fetish! EA and Steam aren't assholes; they're the future!

Digital Media Distributors are as GOOD AS hard copy media but they are NOT superior since some folks will always prefer to actually OWN an item physically in our hand and NOT just be "licensing" from the internet; most games companies already view that whatever you've bought from them is in reality a rental and their EULAs say as much! The other Digital Media providers are watching how the game companies do business and adapting their proprietary plans for their own ends!

[Fluffy]

Anything you download to your Kindle can be backed up to a PC or other backup storage.

It surprises me that people say they prefer a physical book for a "classic". Classics are perfect for the Kindle because anything in the public domain is free. Buying MOBY DICK at this point is crazy.

[deluded1]

Seriously? Download Calibre and convert them to epub. Dipshit.

[Old Salt]

Backing up assumes that you will have hardware that is compatible with your data 20 years from now! Ever try to run a Win95 game on Win7?

As for Calibre, it's already being eyeballed by the Justice Department under DMCA (Sony is the one pushing for now but more will jump on the bandwagon as it gains steam).

I like Digital Distributing (Steam is GREAT for finding old school games) but it has serious cracks in the system that will eventually fuck people over because it's already happened with game publishers!

[Greer]

The best part of Kindle is that if your reading interests are like mine (and it sounds like yours), you don't have to pay for books. I pretty much only read old out of copyright books that are available for free on Gutenberg.

[dunphy]

yes ^ this. i think the aesthetics argument is stupid. hey, nobody is "wrong" if they enjoy paper books (the feel the page turning etc.) or prefer the kindle. it's like arguing over any sort of aesthetic experience.

that said, it IS awesome to have near immediate access to the classics and for free.

i also love the way you can download sample excerpts from books

[Pro Libertate]

I suppose they could replicate that experience with full-immersion virtual reality that allows a user to browse a virtual bookstore, including the ability to pull down a book and read it while in the VR bookstore.

Frankly, I think the death of Borders may help local bookstores, and it likely will save B&N, especially if B&N gets acquired by Liberty Media.

[Tulpa]

That's probably not possible. The first thing that FIVR is going to be used for is immersive porn, and as Scott Adams said of the Holodeck, that will be the last human invention.

[Pro Libertate]

Hard to argue with that.

From what I'm hearing about the next generation of gaming, the computational power to run good, fully immersive experiences is not that far away.

[Mnemone Jones]

When the Borders satellite store went under in the town I live in, it was immediately replaced by a bookstore locally owned and operated by the former employees of the Borders store. We lost nothing, quite literally.

[gunga din]

Why would someone pay(in my case 10%)sales tax when they dont have to.
While I understand that the book store model is dead no one should be celebrating the loss or transfer of jobs.Have a little empathy.

[cynical]

No, we're celebrating labor being freed up for more useful purposes. If the government leeches would stop bleeding the economy, maybe it will get well enough to eventually make use of it.

[Surly Chef]

Not only that, but we are celebrating the innovations that have made Borders obsolete.

@gunga din: A business failing or succeeding due to market forces, and not governement forces, provides information to the market about how resources should or should not be allocated: capital, labor, and time cannot be missappropriated to a business that does not exist. This is the central problem socialism has with the economic calculation problem; there are no market forces to inform where these resources should be allocated, or they are vastly distorted. People holding on to jobs and businesses that exist that don't adaquetly provide for the wants and needs of consumers while holding on to existance through cronyism distort market signals, in addition to being a drain on taxpayers.

I know we don't mention them much over here but Mises.org has more econ lit than you could finish reading in a lifetime and almost all of it's free.

[Achtung Coma Baby]

I know we don't mention them much over here but Mises.org has more econ lit than you could finish reading in a lifetime and almost all of it's free.

They're fucking 'Barners, dude. There's no need to hang around people that roll there own tree after winning.

[Surly Chef]

I feel like I'm missing a key reference.

[-]

labor being freed up for more useful purposes

That's idiotic. Capitalism isn't a zero-sum game. Read a decent economics book for Chrissakes.

[Surly Chef]

Um, what?

[RM]

It's not zero-sum, but that doesn't make your refutation any less stupid.

[cynical]

Derp much?

[-]

Have a little empathy

Empathy is a human attribute. This is a libertarian site.

[cynical]

Empathy is just selfishness by proxy. Have a little perspective.

[PETE]

Being an asshole is just being awesome by proxy.

[Juice]

I guess they were just the right size to fail.

[Hugh Akston]

They lacked the connections in Washington.

[Old Salt]

Should have sent more of those naughty librarians to lobby!

[zeebs]

The staff was always helpful and courteous...

Glad you had a good experience. Mine was always unpleasant, not because of the staff, but because of the inane gibberish management forced them to say.

"Do you have a Borders Reward Card?? No? Would you like one? It only takes a moment to sign up (though it will take a lot longer to clean up your inbox once we get your email address). Would you like to buy a bag of coffee for our Troops?? No? Hmm, you don't want our Troops? to drink coffee, okay. Sounds a bit un-American, but whatevs. Care to buy a children's book to donate to the local literacy drive? Cash or charge? No, we don't take debit, so I'll have to see your ID..."

All that spiel was the same whether there was a line at the register or not. Good riddance to Borders.

[Pro Libertate]

Not well run. I always thought B&N was a much better operation, though it's not as good as it once was.

[Red=Blooded American]

I hate B&N. The only time I bought anything online from them they adjusted the price upwards on my invoice and after wasting over an hour on the phone with customer service(over less than $20) I had to do a chargeback for the diff with my credit card company. The next year my sister sent me an expensive new lousy book with a post-Thanksgiving B&N receipt from Texas. The ATL sore not only wouldn't give me a refund(2 days after Christmas), they wanted a "restocking fee" to give me credit on a brand new,still full price book that didn't even have the text block cracked. B&N still leads my consumer shit list. I liked Borders.I guess it is a Books-a-Million if I want a brick and mortar chain book store now.

[Gray Ghost]

Half-Price Books is not so bad.

[Pro Libertate]

I loved Half-Price Books when I lived near one, but they aren't in Florida.

[Nipplemancer]

I worked seven years at Borders, 6 years in management. The upper management were all a bunch of retards. This is no surprise, it comes a few years later than I expected though.

[Dave]

Isn't "upper management" synonymous with "retards?"

Upper management is typically only good at enriching themselves while destroying the company.

[Dave]

Isn't "upper management" synonymous with "retards?"

Upper management is typically only good at enriching themselves while destroying the company.

[Old Salt]

Yer confusing retard with sociopath...

[Dave]

Ok - "sociopathic retards"

[dunphy]

all they care about is those fucking TPS reports.

[Huh]

The failure of Borders is a beautiful thing

Why would ostensibly pro-free enterprise Libertarians celebrate the closing of a business and the loss of jobs and careers? Why the grudge? Is it personal? How? And why the schadenfreude? Do you require failure of that particular business model (after years of spectacular success, by the way) to validate your own premises? The glee with which some libertarians view others' failures and hardships is unbecoming and indecent.

[Achtung Coma Baby]

Amazon has employees, don't you know?

[Achtung Coma Baby]

See Cynical's response to Gunga din.

[Episiarch]

Concern troll is concerned. Yawn.

[Achtung Coma Baby]

I don't get it. They want to punish the rich, but when capitalism does what socialism could never do, they get ancy and demand government bailouts.

[Surly Chef]

Spontaneous order is scary. NO ONE IS IN CONTROL!?!?!?!?!

[The Joker]

CHAOS!

[Mr Whipple]

SOMALIA!!!!111!!

ROAAAAAAAADZZDZDZDZDZZ!!!!

[Mr Whipple]

Somalia!!!!!

Roadzzz!!!!!

What about the children!!!

[Surly Chef]

I was waiting for Somalia and Roadzzz. Makes me laugh every time.

[Old Salt]

I thought "Somalia Roads" was a Seattle punk-grunge band?

[H man]

No it's a country song. Somali Roads take me home, to the place, I belong.

[Old Salt]

I thought we didn't believe in roads?

[Tulpa]

But this doesn't hurt the rich, it hurts the women and minorities no longer able to work the registers for minimum wage. Of course working for minimum wage hurts them too.

[Pro Libertate]

I dunno about that. Upthread, someone said former Borders employees opened their own store at a former Borders location. That ain't cheap.

[Thom]

That's how people see it. Your run of the mill leftist would probably like to see the business bailed out, its management jailed, and its employees unionized.

[Tony]

Quick, I need a Kleenex

[Trespassers W]

Because we see what is not seen?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Troll? Or idiot? You decide.

[JW]

I'm just coming off of being employed by a failed business. We were poorly managed and run into the ground. We should have gone under years ago, but we managed to stall it.

We were taken over by a larger company. Most of us were absorbed into the new company at the same salary and better benefits (we got our 403b match back and then some). Those that didn't got generous severance payments and some have already moved onto better paying jobs. Some people will go into new lines of work.

The money and energy that once went into a failing company can now be put to better use. Where's the problem?

[ONNTA]

Simple answer, they're thugs.

[Mr Whipple]

Perhaps, a government bailout of Borders would have been cause for celebration.

Oh wait. They're not unionized. My bad.

[Mike Laursen]

You make a good point. Lots of businesses with less-than-perfect business models would still be viable if government wasn't fucking up the economy. It isn't all about creative destruction when there are empty forefront and widespread unemployment across the country.

[Mike Laursen]

Storefronts. Goddamn spelling correction.

[Mike Laursen]

Storefronts. Overzealous Android spelling correction.

[Mike Laursen]

Storefronts. Freaking overzealous Android spelling correction.

[Mike Laursen]

Store fronts. Phuk king overzealous Android spelling correction.

[Eric Cartman]

Borders failed because public schools work. People can't read or even make change for a dollar.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Eric Cartman,

Borders failed because public schools work. People can't read or even make change for a dollar.

That was the intended purpose of the Amerikan Pulbic Skool Seistem all along. How else can one explain Sheila Lee Jackson???

[Sleeping Dog]

Or Stephanie Meyer!

[heller]

#40 Stormy Weather

[Actual Economist]

Anthony Gregory, and most of the commenters, should check their premises. The closing of a business, whether or not it was profitable, reduces choice for the consumer, and so is bad for the consumer, both in the short and long term. In the short term, the consumer has lost an opportunity to handle and purchase books locally, perhaps indulging a whim to buy and possess a book immediately that he could order later on Amazon at a greater discount. In fact, if the store was losing money, its closure is even worse for the consumer; you could view the operation of the store as a sort of very expensive hobby for its owners, and since it offered expanded choice to consumers, it could even be viewed as a charitable enterprise. Meanwhile, in the long term, Amazon has one less competitor, and one less reason to improve its service or lower its prices. That can't be good for the consumer either.

So, from an economic perspective, there is nothing to celebrate in the closure of Borders Books.

[wef]

"The closing of a business, whether or not it was profitable, reduces choice for the consumer, and so is bad for the consumer, both in the short and long term"

Actual economist's strained argument gets an F, both in the short term and in the long.

"Choice" is not price, and even price is not the point. But certainly the "choice" available because an unprofitable Borders would keep losing money is not a benefit to consumers as a general group, just another store to avoid. The few who might look into the store to "handle and purchase" have to be balanced against the many who are obviously going elsewhere and might have otherwise had some other shop to look into in the space that Borders is hogging.

And the long-run argument is just stupid.

[dunphy]

yea, i am going to weep for all those otter scrubbing businesses that went under after exxon upgraded to double hulled transports

[Amakudari]

Uh, sure, and I suppose the loss of the horse and buggy reduced choice for the consumer. Of course, that's because it competed with a completely superior set of transportation options, and that's what we have now with book distribution. Most consumers have never had more desirable options when it comes to books.

I have no idea why you'd want to view the event in isolation without considering why it failed (and heck, whether the use of Border's resources could be put to better use for consumers).

[dunphy]

let's weep for the whale oil industry that was decimated by those fucking incandescent bulbs!

[dunphy]

let's weep for the whale oil industry that was decimated by those fucking incandescent bulbs!

[Shocked]

You must be an SEIU economist.

A few years ago Amazon had no competitors in the eBook world. Now they have Google, iBooks and Barnes and Noble at least.

Maybe a more viable business will move in that same location. Maybe even another bookstore, just like the example mentioned above!

Have you even watched what has happened to online retailers over the years. If Amazon doesn't keep competing, like you think the have less reason to do so now, they will be gone fast. Can you say "MySpace"?

[http://www.redbottomshoesheels]

http://www.nike-high-heelsus.net http://www.redbottomshoesheels.net there is nothing to celebrate in the closure of Borders Books

[sevo]

"Anthony Gregory, and most of the commenters, should check their premises. The closing of a business, whether or not it was profitable, reduces choice for the consumer, and so is bad for the consumer, both in the short and long term"

Hey, A-E, sorta forgot there's a gain in not paying what a losing business charges, didn't you?
Oh, and the rest of your rant suggests you're an 'economist' who, well, should be ignored. Consumers don't willingly support hobbies.

[-i??]

The Borders in my area closed about 3 years ago.. the location wasn't ideal and B&N was way better situated. However, I always preferred Borders over B&N and was sad to see it go. I still have a few books left to read from the going out of biz sale.

[Syd Henderson]

Just received my last book on order from Borders. Sorry to see them go.

[Mike Laursen]

Store fronts. Phuk king overzealous Android spelling correction.

[Mike Laursen]

Phil king broken threading.

[rather]

The ad is a discount coupon for Borders. Will Barnes and Noble honor it, or is this false advertisement from Reason? 😉

[anarch]

No false advertising: The whole chain is for sale at a discount.

[That Chick from OH]

I stopped loving Borders several years ago when, as I recall, the chain suddenly announced that they would no longer pay the musicians who played gigs in their cafe area. This included talented, professional artists who already had confirmed dates and agreed-upon compensation. That is all.

[Virginia]

i went there b/c i never ordered in time from online stores to get my gifts before xmas and birthdays.

this gives another talking point to the taxyerintertubescommerce crowd who are chasing Amazon affiliates from their states into mine 🙂

[Thom]

Their logic will be since their taxes have already driven one once successful business into the ground, those taxes should be extended to other, currently successful, businesses as well.

[Thomas]

I'll deeply miss Borders. However, in the end, I'm glad the market is being allowed to work its magic... for once.