Another one bites the dust! They claim up to 40% off, plus Borders Rewards member discounts.
Linda
Remembering Record Stores
Linda
Remembering Record Stores
Borders Begins Liquidation Sale Today
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Green
500 Club - QQ All-Star
Whats the web link to borders?
Coincidentally, Dennis Mabry and I found ourselves at a Borders today (there is none in our town). We walked in wondering why the parking lot was full and the lines were so long at 10 am!
For what it's worth, all the discs we saw were at LIST price, so even 40% off a Blu-ray wasn't a good deal. We walked out empty handed.
For what it's worth, all the discs we saw were at LIST price, so even 40% off a Blu-ray wasn't a good deal. We walked out empty handed.
These sales start off ho-hum to nab all they can get from people who don't know what good deals are. Give it a week or two; the selection will be diminished but if not a good deal now, nothing lost.
They try to sell the stuff at list price? No wonder they went belly up.
DKA
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
Almost all stores which go through this do similar pricing deals. When tower records closed, I spent hours at their liquidation sale, only to walk out of there with one item that was worth the money - and that was Tower!! Just walked out of an FYE the other day empty-handed for the same reason. These sales are good for odds and ends, and little else.
Borders is a bookstore first. Maybe there were better deals on books, but to say that they went belly up because they charged too much on CDs is silly. They're in trouble for the same reason the Barnes & Noble flagship store was shut down - digital downloads came for the music store first, and now they've come for the big box book store.
Borders is a bookstore first. Maybe there were better deals on books, but to say that they went belly up because they charged too much on CDs is silly. They're in trouble for the same reason the Barnes & Noble flagship store was shut down - digital downloads came for the music store first, and now they've come for the big box book store.
In Australia we've just finished our Borders closing sale... I've never seen so many copies of Russell Crowe's Biography in my life...
not to mention cassette tapes of books...and lots of other stuff you would never want to buy...
and Angus And Robertson who were associated with them went down too, and their book sale in one area was across the road from borders...and they had different prices on the same stuff.
they were also selling their shop fittings..everything they could unbolt from the building was for sale.
not to mention cassette tapes of books...and lots of other stuff you would never want to buy...
and Angus And Robertson who were associated with them went down too, and their book sale in one area was across the road from borders...and they had different prices on the same stuff.
they were also selling their shop fittings..everything they could unbolt from the building was for sale.
Chris Gerhard
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
I can't say I ever purchased much at Borders but I always liked the stores and the employees so I am sad to see the stores go. I don't know that Barnes & Noble is going to survive but I sure hope so.
Until the fall, I shopped a lot at Borders. Then, their credit seemed to dry up. No more new releases. Same scenario at Tower. When they never got expanded 2-disc Monkees reissues, I knew the end was near. I'll miss the 33-44% off I got with my Borders rewards cards. Got my 71-Disc Miles Davis Complete Columbia Recordings for $180 there. The big stores had a good classical SACD selection.
The previous round of store closings was run the same way. Having regularly got 40% + off, the initial pricing didn't lure me. No new releases. I went to a couple stores in their last few days. Got a Roxy Music DVD for $5 and a Ken Burns Jazz book for $3. Hugely picked over, but some great bargains. I heard that they will be closing in September. It's hard to believe it will drag on that long. They haven't indicated whether Borders.com will remain open. No sales there, yet.
Linda
The previous round of store closings was run the same way. Having regularly got 40% + off, the initial pricing didn't lure me. No new releases. I went to a couple stores in their last few days. Got a Roxy Music DVD for $5 and a Ken Burns Jazz book for $3. Hugely picked over, but some great bargains. I heard that they will be closing in September. It's hard to believe it will drag on that long. They haven't indicated whether Borders.com will remain open. No sales there, yet.
Linda
DKA
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
I'm always incredibly ambivalent about all this. On one hand, as a former record store employee and someone who's spent countless hours surfing the racks, there is something which continues to be lost here which is never coming back. I truly believe the experience of enjoying music had forever changed.
On the other hand, technology had made it so that we can more efficiently use our physical space, and it's something I greatly welcome. It's a tough and sad compromise.
On the other hand, technology had made it so that we can more efficiently use our physical space, and it's something I greatly welcome. It's a tough and sad compromise.
I sort of see it more or less like this, but it'll be about 50 -50 between physical and e-books. I don't see anything ruling things one way or the other as different things for different folks. This will of course make it more difficult to market to people in the future. But companies and individuals will need to learn how to market to more and more divided niche markets. They will need to know them perfectly and offer better service. Border's IMHO was "too big for its britches" for too long and just ran its business into the ground, not looking to the future as what happens all the time.
Edit: This is a drag though for the Pleasant Hill area as Borders was an important anchor store at the main intersection here when the downtown Pleasant Hill area was created about 20 years ago.
The future of books, post-Borders closure
http://kdrv.com/page/218604
July 20, 2011
By Martin Savidge
(CNN) -- The failure of Borders Books has many book lovers worried about the future. But, experts say books and bookstores aren't going anywhere.
Once upon a time all books had pages and were only bought in stores. What a fairy tale. Today we read things called Kindles or Nooks and books are downloaded anywhere any time. To see how much things have changed, just peer into john McClure's front window, as he runs his publishing company from a spare bedroom. He used to go to Borders. Then saw the writing on the wall, and gave up his IT job to begin Signalman Publishing. So far he's published 200 electronic books and seen his business double each year.
So is it the end of paper books? McClure says no, not even close. Marketing research expert Britt Beemer agrees. He points out only 11% of consumers say they would buy an e-reader. Beemer says it would be wrong to think Borders went bust because bookstores are obsolete.
So if Border's got it wrong then B&L books would seem to have got it right. Jan Packwood has 38,000 books and 4,000 loyal customers. Daughter Dena manages the place. So far, they've been in business 24 years and despite all changes in the book business, their readers keep coming back. Packwood says their secret is something you can't download: customer service.
Borders' bookstores will be liquidating assets this weekend after the company failed to find a buyer.
Edit: This is a drag though for the Pleasant Hill area as Borders was an important anchor store at the main intersection here when the downtown Pleasant Hill area was created about 20 years ago.
The future of books, post-Borders closure
http://kdrv.com/page/218604
July 20, 2011
By Martin Savidge
(CNN) -- The failure of Borders Books has many book lovers worried about the future. But, experts say books and bookstores aren't going anywhere.
Once upon a time all books had pages and were only bought in stores. What a fairy tale. Today we read things called Kindles or Nooks and books are downloaded anywhere any time. To see how much things have changed, just peer into john McClure's front window, as he runs his publishing company from a spare bedroom. He used to go to Borders. Then saw the writing on the wall, and gave up his IT job to begin Signalman Publishing. So far he's published 200 electronic books and seen his business double each year.
So is it the end of paper books? McClure says no, not even close. Marketing research expert Britt Beemer agrees. He points out only 11% of consumers say they would buy an e-reader. Beemer says it would be wrong to think Borders went bust because bookstores are obsolete.
So if Border's got it wrong then B&L books would seem to have got it right. Jan Packwood has 38,000 books and 4,000 loyal customers. Daughter Dena manages the place. So far, they've been in business 24 years and despite all changes in the book business, their readers keep coming back. Packwood says their secret is something you can't download: customer service.
Borders' bookstores will be liquidating assets this weekend after the company failed to find a buyer.
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DKA
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
I don't think it's the end of books, period. You'll never get rid of books. However, the big box bookstore model looks, to my eyes, like its taking a hit not all that different than what the big music store model took. Borders is a big example of this. Like I said before, B&N closed their flagship store, which was a five-floor behemoth across the street from Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera House. Just today, I noticed the B&N on the Yale campus, which always shared space with the Yale bookstore itself, is now more Yale bookstore than B&N.
I think the smaller bookstore will always be around, even though a lot of independent bookstores have certainly taken a hit as well in recent years. The Strand bookstore in Soho, with its "eight miles of books," isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The book is a more stubborn media than CD or whatnot. Music goes through different shapes and forms as time goes by and technology changes. The book has always been the book.
I feel very bad for Borders. Before it became the #2 chain out there, the original Borders stores were books only, featured local musicians on weekend nights, and became quite the hangout for those who didn't quite fit with the club scene when I was in Miami in the 90's.
The Kindles and Nooks are great technology, though, and probably encourage more curiosity as to reading, as well as save people a hell of a lot of space and paper.
I think the smaller bookstore will always be around, even though a lot of independent bookstores have certainly taken a hit as well in recent years. The Strand bookstore in Soho, with its "eight miles of books," isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The book is a more stubborn media than CD or whatnot. Music goes through different shapes and forms as time goes by and technology changes. The book has always been the book.
I feel very bad for Borders. Before it became the #2 chain out there, the original Borders stores were books only, featured local musicians on weekend nights, and became quite the hangout for those who didn't quite fit with the club scene when I was in Miami in the 90's.
The Kindles and Nooks are great technology, though, and probably encourage more curiosity as to reading, as well as save people a hell of a lot of space and paper.
Green
500 Club - QQ All-Star
The stores during closing have been getting a lot of traffic and people have been buying both the discs and music. To me that shows people still want physical media. If they didnt they wouldnt go there even during liquidation sales. I dont think then its physical media that is the problem so much as pricing and marketing and giving the people what they want.
Yes, that's it. They try to say that downloads alone killed off Tower. But I used go just down a block away from Concord Tower to Circuit City, as DVD prices for new releases were about $5.00 cheaper. I also used to get pissed off at Tower near it's end for wasting my time as they didn't keep the store selves stocked properly or have what I wanted (as what happens right before stores go under). So I went online to buy physical product. Plus, let's not forget the economy now is another factor. Rasputin is still doing fine in Concord selling music where Tower was. So perhaps were going back to more mom and pop stores with better, more personal, individualized service.
Would have loved to have scored that Ken Burns Jazz book for $3.
That was such a great, informative series on music.DKA
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
100% disagree. Just because someone saw a few people at a store, it does not translate into actual sales numbers.
People love picking at a good carcass, and people love a bargain, if they can find one.
Borders is closing because of both too rapid growth that could not be supported as well as the weakening of the big box bookstore model. I actually don't think its closing has any reflection whatsoever on what kind of music people want.
DKA
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
Yes, that's it. They try to say that downloads alone killed off Tower. But I used go just down a block away from Concord Tower to Circuit City, as DVD prices for new releases were about $5.00 cheaper. I also used to get pissed off at Tower near it's end for wasting my time as they didn't keep the store selves stocked properly or have what I wanted (as what happens right before stores go under). So I went online to buy physical product. Plus, let's not forget the economy now is another factor. Rasputin is still doing fine in Concord selling music where Tower was. So perhaps were going back to more mom and pop stores with better, more personal, individualized service.
Would have loved to have scored that Ken Burns Jazz book for $3.
Downloads didn't kill off Tower. High rents, huge spaces, and a business model that was no longer plausible in the US killed off Tower. It also killed off every Virgin Megastore location in the US, as well as HMV in the US. Watching the NYC Union Square Virgin close was an incredibly sad day.
Rasputin, like Amoeba, both operate on a MUCH smaller scale than the major retailers, are concentrated in one area, have a dedicated clientele that isn't necessarily affected by trends, and may even own the properties where they are located. As long as there's a UC-Berkeley, Amoeba and Rasputin will operate there on Telegraph. They're anomalies and not indicative of any sort of larger trend.
Except that Concord Rasputin has expanded to a much larger scale from it's smaller location 4 blocks away in Pleasant Hill and is now paying the SAME high rents as what Tower used to, if not more now. But you're right, it has been able to do this exactly because they have a dedicated clientele that isn't affected by trends and better business model. They still own the empty Pleasant Hill building.
I didn't say Downloads killed off Tower, I'm referring to the "myth" that has been accepted by the uniformed public that thinks downloads killed Tower. You see Tower gone and someone walking down the street with ear buds and iPod and see a false cause an effect. You also hear this being talked about in movies such as what the Shawn Fanning character in "The Social Network" mentioned in a scene or very bad news stories on any T.V. station. But downloads certainly didn't do Tower any favor's in its last years, when talking about the casual music buyer.
I first started working at Concord Tower when they first opened in 1981 and I was, yikes, 22. They sold records, cassettes and 8 tracks still. Rasputin then was in a "hole in the wall" spot in Pleasant Hill. During the mid 80's I saw the transition to CD's packaged in their long boxes. I shopped regularly at Tower at least weekly, to amass a CD collection when things went on sale, etc. But by the late 1990's, I owned all the CD's I ever wanted. So then the record companies try to make us buy the same music again with a CD re-master, and there wasn't that many new bands or old ones I cared about anymore and I quit buying any type music. I started to listen to new music or reggae on internet radio. This is a personal observation, but I suspect the average buyer also already owned all the music they wanted for the most part and were not ready to replace their CDs again by the 2000's with anything else, when they just got through replacing their record collection. So yes, I'm agreeing with you, downloads didn't kill off Tower.
Green
500 Club - QQ All-Star
Yes people do like bargains however no one is interested in something they dont want at any price. People went there to get what they wanted which in this case was physical media if they didnt like it they wouldnt go regardless of price. If you dont like McDonalds cheeseburgers then it wouldnt matter if they only cost a quarter it wouldnt interest you. If a person doesnt smoke they dont care if they can get cigarettes for 2 dollars a pack.
Tower had decent pricing if you bought the more popular new releases, CD & DVD. I agree that their business model became outmoded. I miss Tower. There were 4 huge stores in Chicago. I had friends at three stores, got return priveleges and deals. 4th & Broadway was always on the itinerary on NY trips. I still buy from Tower on-line. I believe it is a different owner.
Borders went out of business because they made a BONEHEADED decision years ago: allowing Amazon to run their online business. Talk about short-sighted. Likely they still would have closed some stores, perhaps not all, and had a sustainable on line business. I bought a lot from them last year and got hundreds in Borders Bucks-free merchandise.
Yes, Old Quad Guy, Ken Burns Jazz is a great series. I also have the DVD box and CD box for that series. Mesmerizing, man! The book is 8 1/2" x 11" and nearly 500 pages. Marked down to $3 from $30. I'll be scavenging Borders when the have their "last gasp" sale.
Linda
Borders went out of business because they made a BONEHEADED decision years ago: allowing Amazon to run their online business. Talk about short-sighted. Likely they still would have closed some stores, perhaps not all, and had a sustainable on line business. I bought a lot from them last year and got hundreds in Borders Bucks-free merchandise.
Yes, Old Quad Guy, Ken Burns Jazz is a great series. I also have the DVD box and CD box for that series. Mesmerizing, man! The book is 8 1/2" x 11" and nearly 500 pages. Marked down to $3 from $30. I'll be scavenging Borders when the have their "last gasp" sale.
Linda
Yes, that's it. They try to say that downloads alone killed off Tower. But I used go just down a block away from Concord Tower to Circuit City, as DVD prices for new releases were about $5.00 cheaper. I also used to get pissed off at Tower near it's end for wasting my time as they didn't keep the store selves stocked properly or have what I wanted (as what happens right before stores go under). So I went online to buy physical product. Plus, let's not forget the economy now is another factor. Rasputin is still doing fine in Concord selling music where Tower was. So perhaps were going back to more mom and pop stores with better, more personal, individualized service.
Would have loved to have scored that Ken Burns Jazz book for $3.
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