Friday, July 22, 2011

Why I won't be shopping the Borders going out of business sale

As you might have heard this week, Borders (the mega-big-box bookstore) is going out of business. In order to liquidate as much inventory as possible, the store is slashing prices up to 40% and all sales are final. Typical stuff when a business closes in the red.

I won't be shopping these sales, even though it would be a great opportunity to stock up for myself or for gifts. A Christmas in July, if you will.

I work in publishing. Borders owes my company money; obviously they aren't alone. If you work in publishing, buying something at Borders these days is equivalent to handing over part of your paycheck to your company. True, it's very indirect and there are many degrees of separation, but I can't see myself helping a company to sell off its inventory faster just so it can pay their bills that have needed to be paid for a long time. Their poor planning is their fault. Why should I help them? This has affected me directly. When bills don't get paid, companies can't hire more staff and can't give raises.

However, I do encourage you, if you don't work in publishing, to PLEASE SPEND YOUR MONEY!!!!  Why not? Many other industries have received bailouts. Let's consider this a bailout for publishing. ;-)

I was never a fan of Borders. They didn't make their way into my area until very recently. I grew up with Waldenbooks, B.Dalton, Barnes and Noble, and independent bookstores in my area. I'm not sad that Borders is closing up shop--out of my list the only stores that are now left are B&N and independent stores--and THOSE numbers are dwindling. Maybe we will see a renewal of interest in buying from your independent bookstore? I have a soft spot in my heart for them, as I worked at one for 2 years before coming to my current job.

I am sad for those people who worked at Borders, now and in the recent past, who are jobless or will soon be jobless. The job market is horrible, as we all know, and this just adds more fuel to a seemingly never-ending fire. I hope that this next phase of their lives is a swift one.

3 comments:

  1. I rarely buy books, but when I do I prefer to go to Borders. There is a Borders right by where we live, whereas the Barnes & Noble is farther away, and there aren't any other major booksellers in the area that I know of. But mostly I reeeeeally hate this guy who works the register at Barnes & Noble because I always end up at his register and he always makes me feel like I am the worst person in the entire world for not wanting to spend $25 for a Barnes & Noble membership. I don't even spend $25 a year on books! Anyway. I probably won't be rushing the Borders sales because by now I'm so used to getting my books at either the library, PaperBackSwap, or Amazon with the credit I get from taking online surveys. So--sorry for not supporting publishing! I still support it by being a freelance editor :)

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  2. Haha, no worries, you are off the hook! :)

    It's funny though, how people have their preferences of where they like to shop. I wonder if that's due to geography and where these stores started?

    Honestly, I don't read much when I'm not at work; that's only because I am reading ALL. DAY. LONG. about books. Book reviews, book news, etc. I know what's going to happen in the books. I have made recommendations to people without knowing much about the book. It's sad, because I do love books, but there's just other things that need to be done once I'm not at my desk. Like blogging :)

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  3. I just sent you like a million Twitter messages because I don't have an e-mail address for you. Sorry! Don't hate me :)

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