Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Books / Money Is This the Ghost of Christmas Future for Borders?
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 2:47 PM
The Literary Saloon and MobyLives are the most recent blogs to report the news: It looks as though Borders UK might be going belly-up. Their website has stopped taking customer orders, and the rumors suggest that the company is about to file for bankruptcy unless it can get one of its competitors to buy in.
It would not be a pretty thing for publishing in the United Kingdom:
One publisher told The Bookseller: "Our pool of clients is just getting smaller and smaller — they are the second biggest bookchain we have. The next six-to-12 months will be very interesting. I suspect lots of publishers could go bust [if Borders shuts down], because that's another 7-10% of the market gone."
Many American publishers are worried about Borders U.S. eventually following suit, because Borders has a much bigger share of the U.S. Market.
1
Does this mean that we will see independent bookstores inch up in popularity? I understand why this could be a huge blow to the publishing industry, but it may lead to some good. I don't go to large chain bookstores because I don't care to see tables of books that publishers paid fees to have placed within customer eyesight. I like browsing employee suggestions at smaller stores, I like to see tables filled with the Booker prize short list... It just may be that books are considered a speacialty market now (not that I think they should be, I would love it if everyone read for recreation). I mean you don't find fine cheeses in Safeway...It may just mean that outlets like Borders don't fit the publishing industry.
3
@1: No. Not until indie booksellers discover a successful business model...which is difficult because:
1)Book buyers/lovers tend to live in neighborhoods with high rents. Book selling has such a low profit margin that it's very difficult to sustain a high rent in a desirable, book friendly area...Rents are cheap in White Center but your average, uptight Seattleite isn't driving to White Center to sip mochas and check out the Nabokov...
2)Banks are not indie store friendly right now...even chains are having a difficult time getting short term loans to purchase stock.
3)A successful book store owner has to have sufficient financing, a good rent in a desirable location, and a mix of retail in order to succeed, ie selling coffee/scones/cards/t-shirts/knick-knacks in addition to books. It's a very tough recipe to pull off.
also, Borders US is doomed, just judging by my very recent visit to the website, (which is awful in my opinion.) It's badly laid out and they don't have any big promotions going on to encourage shopping.
1)Book buyers/lovers tend to live in neighborhoods with high rents. Book selling has such a low profit margin that it's very difficult to sustain a high rent in a desirable, book friendly area...Rents are cheap in White Center but your average, uptight Seattleite isn't driving to White Center to sip mochas and check out the Nabokov...
2)Banks are not indie store friendly right now...even chains are having a difficult time getting short term loans to purchase stock.
3)A successful book store owner has to have sufficient financing, a good rent in a desirable location, and a mix of retail in order to succeed, ie selling coffee/scones/cards/t-shirts/knick-knacks in addition to books. It's a very tough recipe to pull off.
also, Borders US is doomed, just judging by my very recent visit to the website, (which is awful in my opinion.) It's badly laid out and they don't have any big promotions going on to encourage shopping.
4
Is Borders UK folding because people aren't buying books at all or because people are buying books elsewhere? If the latter, how does Borders' going out of business put publishing houses out of business? I can see why it would endanger their business model; as #1 notes, publishers bribe large bookstores to get better book placement, but I'm still not foreseeing a disaster.
5
There is no future for either independent book or record stores, unless it's run purely out of love by someone with a shitload of cash to burn.
6
Note that Borders USA has been teetering on the edge of bankruptcy for several years now. I'm quite surprised that it hasn't gone under and shut everything down, a la GI Joes.
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