(Photo by Rotem Eldar)
The axe has now fallen, and so we made a stop there yesterday to see how it the deceased and still-cooling corpse was doing.
The whole front entry was already cleared out and empty, echoing hollowly.
With the initial drop in prices, from 10% on most books, to 40% on magazines, and various discounts in-between, the bargain hunters were there in force. Most people we've ever seen in the place, the check-out line backed up all the way to the kiddie book section, seventy, eighty people, and lots more roaming about.
We decided not to stay. It felt like I was one among a flock of vultures, picking through the carcass, and for me, ten percent off on a few books wasn't worth waiting in line for what was going to be a long time.
A few more days of this, some discount dealer coming in to bid on the remains, and Borders here will be done. Dead, empty, shuttered, and adiós.
Mostly I get my books from Powell's in Beaverton, which is just a couple blocks up the road from the Borders, in the Cedar Hills Mall, and for a bunch of reasons: You can get used books there. They take trade-ins for credit or cash. My sci fi guy Peter works there. It's a bigger store than a typical B&N or Borders. (Not a patch size-wise on Big Powell's downtown, but then again, nobody else is, either, vis a vis rack space, certainly not on this coast.) It's the closest bookery to my house anyhow. And when I can, I will support local businesses.
I won't miss Borders as much because of Powell's, but that's four hundred stores
and thousand employees gone, and a lot less rack space for books and CDs–plus our Borders had live music one night a week, small and mostly acoustic groups, and they'll be looking for another place to play.
I hate to see a bookstore close, but if there is an upside to this, it is that with Borders gone, Powell's Beavo will probably get an uptick in business, and I do want to see them stick around.