From the Guardian Unlimited
The US book-chain, Borders, has made a shocking announcement that it is set to pull out of the UK and revamp its US book-chain, setting off fears of a tsunami through the industry. Is this the beginning of the end of the mega bookstore
as we know it? It is beginning to look like the Gunfight at O K Corral: who will be the last man standing?
Borders is also reducing store numbers in the US and ending its alliance with Amazon.com. Borders is America's second-largest books retailer after Barnes & Noble, has recently reported a quarterly loss of US$73.6m. UK sales over the quarter were flat.
Borders moved into the UK in 1998, when it bought the Books etc chain. It has 42 Borders superstores in the UK and Ireland and 30 Books etc and Borders Express stores.
More blood on the tracks: 'Earlier this month HMV said it was planning to close up to 30 of its Waterstone's book shops, as part of an overhaul to restore the fortunes of the struggling business.'
What is happening is perhaps inevitable. Mega bookstores have been trying todefy gravity long enough with their steep discounts (up to 50%) of their best sellers. When Walmart or Tesco does that, they are merely extending the conceptof loss leaders. Their shoppers will still need to buy milk and eggs and soappowder and ... while Harry Potter and Dan Brown readers read only that, and nothing in between. When bookstores start treating their inventory like commodities, they become no different from rice and sugar merchants and they should know it is trouble ... sorry, this is their turf.
Should we worry? Perhaps not. Good riddance to bad rubbish, as they say. Maybe booksellers will eventually get back to doing what they do best: selling books ... good books.Read more: http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2040198,00.html
i personally won't mourn the lessening of borders. that particular mega bookshop just leaves me cold.
ReplyDeletebut looking at the big picture, does this mean that we'll see the return of specialist bookshops? or does this mean the death of the written word?
jayel
Amen to that, Jayel. They made me wait 3 months once for a book to be brought from the States here to the UK.
ReplyDeleteI'll miss their discounts though. And their free study lounge & Starbucks. What does the future hold for us poor book-lovers (and by that I mean medical students too)?
When bookstores start selling notebooks and giftwrap, and when over half of the retail floor is taken over by cookbooks, they deserve to die. I hope this is the return of the indie bookstore, stocked with good books!
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