The café is out of commission, magazine racks are dwindling and shelves emptying at a furious pace. You can’t take a step without seeing discount signs. The banners say ‘Going Out Of Business’ but that’s just stating the obvious given the state of the store. If you’re caught up in your latest e-book or have just been out of the loop, I’m talking about Borders closing its doors.
I hadn’t planned to visit the store once the bad news broke. I had good reason. After reading articles about the decline of bookstore sales, I thought it prudent to spend money where it’s still needed. In stores that are struggling to stay in business, say, the local indie bookstore, or even Barnes & Noble who is being courted by Liberty Media according to Publisher’s Weekly.
We took a trip to the bookstore for my daughter’s birthday. She chose Borders. I thought it might be interesting to see how things are going and maybe check out some deals, so we went.
It was hard to see the place in its diminished state. I was sad when we saw handwritten price tags on all the shelves and fixtures. A woman was bargaining for a bookshelf and I could hardly believe my ears. It seemed like a good buy, but it was so odd to see the store being sold to the bare walls.
The hardest part was taking what would be our last trip to the kid’s area. My daughter always picks a few books to read. We go up on the platform, or stage where they usually host Children’s events and hold our own story time.
After we read our books and gathered several purchases, we headed out. With one glance back at the bare shelves and ‘Everything must go’ signs, I wondered what will happen to these brick and mortar stores. Will our kids get to experience them the way we did? Would libraries and locally owned stores will see a resurgence of customers? Perhaps, our kids will create a new book community all their own. I just hope they learn the joy of reading and sharing books with spines that crackle and pages you can dog-ear.
If you’re interested in checking out a local independent bookseller, click this link to search the IndieBound site http://www.indiebound.org/indie-store-finder.
