Goodbye Borders

It seems like Borders has been closed forever. It seems as if it never even existed, except for the faded name on the building. When I drive by the empty store and parking lot, I am overwhelmed by a deep sense of loss. Borders had been my “home away from home.”

Sometimes, I spent three to four days at the store. Sometimes after my morning exercise I would go to Borders for a few hours to write. Borders became my anchor, my writing companion, a great source of writing inspiration and information, as I went back to grad school and wrote my papers. I painstakingly wrote my stories and my graduate thesis at Borders.

I never left Borders empty handed. It was normal for me to leave the store with a book or two, or a few magazines, or a DVD or CDs, or even a card. I loved being around the books and the magazines and hearing the music being played in the background or the chattering of the people around me.

Listening to people say that Kindle killed off the bookstore irritates me. Or the people who say, I have to have a book in my hand to read. I beg to differ…I am a book-a-holic and love my books. In my house, I have a lot of bookcases and shelves filled with books that I love. Despite having my Kindle, I still buy magazines and certain books that I want to hold and keep. Yes, I love the feel of paper in my hands, I also know that eventually if you keep your books long enough, the pages turn yellow and sometimes the books have that old musty smell.

Kindle or electronic readers did not close down Borders. I point to Barnes and Nobles that still exists, and I rest my case. I watched Borders being mismanaged, and being in disarray for years and not stepping up to the needs or wants of their customers.

The beginning of the stores decline was when Borders changed around the Children’s area and books. Something happened to that department, and things were never the same. The charm was lost with the changes to the Children’s area. It was no longer a comfortable place for children or adults. First, Borders cut down their story hours and then the story hours completely disappeared. The Managers never seemed to understand that they needed to offer something to pull in the customers. Some of the things that they once had were gone, like their monthly, in-house events bulletin about what was going on, the writing groups that met, the book club discussion groups, the weekend music and open microphone that was occurring. Borders just stopped trying and became a dinosaur. Borders had a big hand in killing itself off.

Goodbye Borders. I and a generation of readers will sorely miss you. We will miss sitting in a chair reading books, or miss sitting in your café and enjoying coffee and a pastry while skimming through the magazines.

Every time I drive by your empty store front and parking lot, the reality and sadness once again descends on me. Oh---sure, I can drive 25 minutes to the Barnes and Noble store, but it isn’t the same.

The Borders store was part of my neighborhood and I and a lot of others will miss you--------------- forever.