Let me explain exactly what that title means: On the one hand I will absolutely miss being able to go into the second largest book retailer in the country and wade through an ocean of celebrity memoirs to get to a handful of quality fiction books. On the other hand, this one time book behemoth first went around the country putting mom and pop book stores out of business, and then went about putting itself out of business by being one of the most poorly run companies in America. [Hey, this is Working Class Economist after all, I have to talk business a little bit.]
So in a very real way Borders is leaving the scene on an infuriating note, at least as far as I’m concerned: 1. There’s no immediate successor to them. They put all these smaller bookstores out of business as they grew and over expanded too rapidly, when quite a few would still be in business (as Borders itself would) had they just built locations at a more sane rate. 2. Of course, it’s always sad for America to lose 11,000 somewhat decent retail jobs, but I don’t know if I’ve had five good interactions with Borders employees in the decade I’ve been going there. And I’ve been to ones from New York’s Time Warner location to one in Mobile, Alabama, yet they display a uniform crappy attitude no matter where you are (it’s as if they train them to be snide at the check-out counter or run as fast as they can from customers with questions on the sales floor). Borders employees are a paradoxical bunch, projecting an attitude of being better than you are, yet only making ten dollars an hour. 3. Plus, whatever sympathy I might truly feel for Borders employees, I am not in any way willing to give Borders the company, which made a series of mind boggling stupid decisions (they gave away their online books division to Amazon, which is basically giving away the future! Plus, they doubled down on selling CDs when there are a dozen better places for that and no one buys CDs anymore, so twice they let new technology swamp them).
The reason that infuriates me is that it makes everyone–once again–declare the death of books or print media or anything written on paper. It sends shockwaves out to the entire publishing industry and makes them more nervous, thus making them less confident or willing to take a chance on an exciting new author working outside the usual celebrity memoir, quirky detective, or “How to Get Rich!” business books. You know, an author like me.
Still, walking through the desolate, picked-over aisles of Borders today, I found myself unexpectedly nostalgic. It was a great place to go and kill a few hours, and in an age where people seem to be obsessed with doing everything from their home, that’s more than welcome. I also got a kick out of seeing what books were still left in the Manhattan Borders after weeks of sales, the books literally no one wants: Tim Pawlenty’s biography, Sarah Palin’s biography, a lot of books under Religious fiction about young girls growing up Quaker, some Westerns, and a roster of books about how much Obama sucks.
So, I’d like to say a semi-fond but angry Farewell to the book retailer. I truly will miss having one more place to buy books out there in the world. And if a miracle happens and Books-a-Million steps it up to be something slightly more welcoming than a book warehouse (still, I have to respect a book store actually selling books instead of a kitchen sink store trying to sling DVDs, CDs, sandwiches, lattes, and everything except books), I hope to see you take over Borders’s locations. Out of fear of bookstore extinction, I know I’ll be spending just a little more money at Barnes and Noble this year.