May 5 2009
According to Shelf Awareness, Borders is no longer in danger of being delisted. It’s stock price was $3.25 yesterday and it’s capitalization of $200 million is above the Exchange’s minimum of $15 million. There was a great article AP article by Hillel Italie about Borders returning to its roots as a handselling organization. This is one way that retail stores can trump an internet based business like Amazon.
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May 05, 2009 @ 10:11:55
Part of me does the happy dance for Borders, because I do love them. The other part of me kicks myself in the butt for not buying when the stock was around 50 cents.
I hope they hang in there though.
May 05, 2009 @ 16:17:25
Our Borders here have been restructuring and the coupons I receive have been valid for in-store only. While I miss having a choice between online ordering or purchasing in a brick and mortar building, I can understand their process. (It’s only a hassle when the book I want is online and not in any of the stores.)
I like Borders. I also like Barnes and Noble and the independent bookstores I shop at. Each stocks books that the other doesn’t and I’ve learned to adjust my book shopping accordingly. (At this rate, I’ll have to buy a small house for all the books I’ve collected over the years.) XD
May 05, 2009 @ 16:48:57
Someone Tweeted that it was less like hand-selling books you love and more like “sell this particular book the bosses picked to every single customer or lose your job.” Unfortunately, that person later deleted their posts. Self-protection, I imagine.
I hope that the top-down attitude is a temporary aberration. I don’t want phony recs from booksellers. I want something that the person truly loves. Dictated recommendations with no real heart behind them will, in the long run, backfire.
May 06, 2009 @ 11:49:04
I’m glad that they’re making money again, but this just seems like they’re reinforcing the stale publishing idea of banking on a few books to be money-makers.
May 07, 2009 @ 07:02:32
I say let Borders get back on its feet first.
And hope that in the long run, they will be the handselling organization they used to be.
May 07, 2009 @ 19:05:00
I *wish* they’d start handselling at my local Borders. In an hour of browsing for myself, I handsell more books than their employees, who never venture out from behind the counters. And I’m not even getting paid!
May 09, 2009 @ 14:35:31
Alas, the commenter at #3 has it right – we’re expected to enthuse and rave over selected books, not necessarily ones we like. I”m sure that the “make books” selected are good, but so far they haven’t been to my taste, which makes them hard to sell for me.
re #6: My store is a good one, and we have at least one person (and frequently more) on the floor at any one time – but Borders has really cut our hours, and so we don’t have as many people on the floor selling as we should, I’m sure. When I’m working as a cashier, I can go on the floor to do recovery, but can’t do customer service because I have to be available at an instant’s notice to check out customers when they’re ready to buy their books.