[hat456]

I just went to the Borders in Danbury, which is closing any day now. An employee told me that THOUSANDS of people have emailed/called Borders' corporate offices to plead them not to close this one, to no avail. It serves a large community. Borders will close more stores in the future in CT. The closest book store is off exit 2 (I think) and its a Barnes & Noble. They cut back on employees. Will CT have not more book stores??

[Slipperman]

there might already be a thread on this. i first heard this a month ago. i remember it because there was a link that went to a page that listed all the stores in each state and which ones were closing and which ones weren't. i remember the Meriden store was staying open.
always liked Borders. as mentioned in the other thread, i lived in MA for 6 years in the early to late 90's. there was a Borders in Natick that i used to go to all the time. at that time i was just getting into software development on the PC and they had a ton of interesting tech books on topics that i was just learning. i was just getting into Dean Koontz then too so i was always picking up a new paperback. they had the capuccino bar too which made them unique. their tech selection seemed to dwindle though just before i left in 98.
wow, getting depressed just thinking about how long ago that was.

[JayCT]

The Fairfield store is also staying open but the Simsbury and Manchester stores are closing. The problem is the company is in Bankruptcy and only their most profitable stores will stay open. That means that the store has to be in an area with a good number of educated people, have little or no competition from other booksellers and one where they have favorable lease terms. In general bookstores are facing stiff competition from the internet. Why buy at retail when you can buy a book on line dirt cheap? Barnes & Noble is much bigger and able to compete better than Borders. Anyway, it is too bad since Borders is a great store. Jay

[Slipperman]

here's one link..

Borders in CT

this is the original link i saw. you can sort by state.

WSJ

[hat456]

I'll look for that other thread.

I know you can get books online on the cheap, but the experience of going to the bookstore, smelling those books, browsing, being in an intellectual atmosphere, having a coffee....I feel like part of our lifestyle is being severed.

Slipperman: Thanks for the link.

[Kristin85]

Originally Posted by JayCT

The Fairfield store is also staying open but the Simsbury and Manchester stores are closing. The problem is the company is in Bankruptcy and only their most profitable stores will stay open. That means that the store has to be in an area with a good number of educated people, have little or no competition from other booksellers and one where they have favorable lease terms. In general bookstores are facing stiff competition from the internet. Why buy at retail when you can buy a book on line dirt cheap? Barnes & Noble is much bigger and able to compete better than Borders. Anyway, it is too bad since Borders is a great store. Jay

Amazon is likely the primary threat to Borders, but I sure noticed a big market share shift once Barnes and Noble put Starbucks in their stores. Sure, Borders has cafes too (not to mention better deals and live music) but it can't compete against a company with Starbucks tie-ins. Given a choice between the two stores, it appears many consumers have gone out of their way to go to B+N for name brand cappuccino/frappuccino.

[mlassoff]

Definitely a loss. I don't go to bars or clubs, so bookstores represent a frequent evening designation for more. I love to get a cup of coffee and brose for an hour... I would almost walk out with a book.

The one on Manchester was a nice book store. I don't like the B&N here nearly as much.

[hat456]

mlassoff: I agree. We, as a family, did the same. And now, we need something to fill this gap.

The employees at the store told me it was just really bad management, not ebooks, etc...

Who knows. But, I will try the library again, although its not the same.

[foxywench]

its a shame, i dont like barnes and noble, i liked that at the borders i could go, have a coffee, take my time, sit around, use their wi-fi ect...the barns and noble neer the mall just doesnt cut it for me...

i was a little suprised though that they're closing yet the books were only 15-25% off, only the magazines were the full 50%...
given they keep saying theyve "only got a matter of days".

i think the biggest problem for this store is the rent, that area is notoriously high for store front cost.

[hat456]

Can't fix original post. Anyone know how to edit a thread you've started?