One model that seems to be thriving these days is the secondhand shop. I can only speak locally, but while general bookstores are having trouble, the Arizona chain Bookman’s is still doing good business. Books are cheap and in relatively good condition, and they supplement the secondhand trade with movies, music, and games. When I went in over the weekend, the place was packed and doing great trade.
Obviously you’re not likely to get the newest bestseller from them, and their stock is highly dependent on whatever folks bring in for trade, but there are loads of hidden gems. And they have quite decent hardware and automotive sections.
I hear you. When we lived in Louisiana we had to drive 50 miles to get to a decent bookstore, so mall stores were a wonderful improvement. B&N and Borders were even better. I had 3 Borders within 15 miles of my house, and they all are closing.
But I still have the library, 2 really excellent used book stores, and about 1,000 unread books in my collection, so I’m pretty well set. Doesn’t help new authors, though.
Damn it! Now my local Borders is closing and it was not on the original list. The Seattle Best coffee shop inside is already shut down and everything is 40-60% off. I no longer have any bookstores in walking distance. This just sucks. I think it is bye bye Borders. They are not coming out of this Chapter 11 alive. Guess Amazon will be my go to for books now.
I know the thread is a few months old now, but all the Borders stores in Australia have closed down (and any that are left are in the process of being closed down)… The interesting thing is that even my book-loving friends aren’t sad to seem them go (although they are sad for the lost jobs), as most of them had switched over to Amazon or The Book Depository some time ago.
Still, there’s something very wrong when book shops are going out of business, but exactly what that something is makes for an interesting debate…
I saw yesterday that they will be forced to liquidate. I fear that their end is near.
I used to be able to get a good deal on Discover rewards cards: 20 dollars would get me a 25 dollar gift certificate. But they ended their relationship with Discover.
I need an e-reader, and I need a good deal on one. Are their e-readers decent? As a separate issue from the previous question, can I buy stuff from anywhere else and use it on their e-reader?
It’s probably talked about elsewhere, but it’s more relevant now than ever, so we might as well talk about it again.
ETA:
Well, here’s some info on the subject:
Still worth discussing, though I guess a clearance isn’t as likely as I first thought.
My first job ever, in high school, was a Waldenbooks in the local mall. I don’t go in there much anymore but the old bat that has worked there for years still remembers me… this sucks. Means my little jerkwater white trash town will have exactly 0 new book stores.
