I hate Barnes and Noble and won't spend a dime at the store. There's just something about the store that turns me off. Maybe it's the ruthless way they run the place (it takes just seconds for a book to go out of print before they have it yanked off the shelf), maybe it's the way they treat teachers (nearly every time I have used the teacher's discount card for a book, I get the third degree if I plan to use the book in the classroom - the last time I got that, I told the clerk "Shakespeare, uh, no, actually I don't plan to use that in the classroom...my wife and I plan to use it in the bedroom..."), or maybe it's the way the stores feel so antiseptic and corporate.
Dunno, but I have always preferred Borders. I have been watching Borders' skid toward bankruptcy with a mix of dread and sadness. Given that Borders got into the ebook/ereader game so late, it was inevitable that they would fall into bankruptcy. The move is supposed to happen Monday or Tuesday. Some analysts feel that bankruptcy will not solve their problems and like Linens & Things and Circuit City, they will go under.
We'll see. My fingers are crossed that they survive and thrive through bankruptcy and keep some semblance of their less corporate feel intact.
I have my doubts about all of that.
But fingers crossed nonetheless.
Now I'm going to go buy something there.
You should too.
And say it with me, all together FUCK B&N...
How odd... I always have the exact opposite experience. Borders always wants to know exactly what I'm using the item for and then requires that I fill out a form and show my ID before letting me purchase anything.
ReplyDeleteI never buy anything for my classroom from now.
It's also Amazon and all those e books. Printed paper is so 20th century; it appears to be on the wane.
ReplyDeleteI will go to Borders to help support them.
ReplyDeleteI never had that problem with B & N though. Although, I rarely used my teacher's discount for books. If they were books, they were mostly picture books.
B&N also has Starbucks. Years ago I decided to boycott Starbucks because I'd read some business analysis in some well-regarded magazine - it was so long ago I no longer even remember the original reason or the original publication. There was something about the way Starbucks moved into a neighborhood by scoping out the nearby coffeeshops - the more, the better, apparently. Allegedly, they would offer more than fair market rate, suggested by the authors of the article that it was about twice the FMR, then open a store and systematically drive the smaller coffeeshops out of business. So I rarely went to Starbucks, and when I did, it was usually because it was convenient, or someone else wanted to meet there, or because I had a coupon for a free designer coffee (I always gave the barista a $2 tip, anyway - recognizing that the guy behind the counter was just some schmo like me, trying to make a living). In all the years Starbucks has been in business, I have perhaps bought 4 or 5 cups of tea or coffee, usually under social duress of some sort. When B&N decided to include Starbucks in their locations, I stopped going to B&N too.
ReplyDeleteWe're seeing this sort of business practice go on over and over everywhere. My neighborhood Pergament, which was a terrific store, went out of business 10 years ago because of competition from Home Depot - it seems to be not as bad for the independent hardware store owners, but deadly to the smaller chains. Smaller department stores and supermarkets lose out to Walmart and Costco. The price we end up paying for the deep discount is the loss of the quality environments that stores like Borders have always offered - we had the power to decide Borders' fate, and now it's too late.
I have read that Borders had a lot of management turmoil and turnover, didn't handle the coming e-book revolution very well, and took out rents on trendy spots that are unsustainable - Time Warner, Park Ave and Penn Station are apparently astronomical rents - and there is no margin for error these days.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that B&N will follow in a few years just as Virgin Megastore followed Tower into oblivion a few years back. B&N may survive on the Internets, but they will have to start closing stores and downsizing too - especially as fewer people buy paper books.
The Internets has revolutionized the world, and not in a way I am comfortable with. I STILL get all sad and depressed thinking about Tower Records from 66th Street - I really enjoyed looking through the import stacks there. And believe me - I bought cds from them. Same with Borders. I NEVER buy from B&N, always buy from Borders. Sure, they treat teachers better (25% discount over the 20% from B&N), but I also just like the vibe there.
Yesterday I was talking to a fellow about the impending bankruptcy. He has been working for Borders for over ten years - he dated back to the old Trade Center store. The people who work at the Park Avenue store have been there a long time as well. I like to see that kind of continuity in employee. I don't think I have ever seen the same employees at B&N more than once. I just suspect - I don't know, just suspect - that Borders was the better place to be and to work than B&N.
I know that I will be sad when they finally kick the bucket. And it looks like that is coming soon. Bankruptcy will not solve their problems.
But I did my best to help. Bought an Echo and the Bunnymen cd and Johnny Cash's autobiography.
Just for old time's sake.
A CD-pressing company based in New Jersey recently shuttered its doors, too. The same way reality-based educator likes books (I do, too, by the way), I prefer the "physicality" of CDs (and tapes, and vinyl, too) - there is a sort of artistic integrity that goes into making an actual album that is lost on the current generation that prefers to download just the songs they like. How would anyone be able to appreciate the over artistry and intent of Quadrophenia or The Wall, or La Boheme and Ariadne auf Naos? Who would possibly know about the 5- to 10-second snippets of Love Reign O'er Me playing in Jimmy's mind by downloading just the major songs?
ReplyDeleteAnon, you have no idea how much I prefer cds to digital music. Listen, if I had the room, I would go back to albums! Such a better sound - warmer, authentic, full. Cds are okay, I like dvd audio a lot, but when my old stereo broke recently, I couldn't find a new stereo that plays dvd audio anymore. I will have to get a separate component for that.
ReplyDeleteSo yes, believe me, I get sad when these places go out. I have thousands of cds, I try and support both my favorite bands and my favorite companies. Right now, Esoteric Records/Cherry Red/Cherry Pop is my favorite imprint. Dunno, perhaps they're own by Sony or some big boy, but the reissues of classic 60's/70's/80s music with lots of bonus tracks and b sides and the like - just fabulous. I bought Adam Ant's Manners and Physique and a whole bunch of Madness remasters from Salvo records that are just fantastic! Also some really fun Italian prog remasters that were originally issued on Manticore Records back in the 70's - Banco and PFM. Yeah, I love this stuff, love the actual physicality of things. Sure I could download a lot of this stuff on the Internets and perhaps not pay for it, but in the end, what does that serve? The sound quality of mp3s sucks, the lack of payment hurts the bands and the companies that would be in the business of putting this stuff out. So I purchase the cds, I add them to my collection, and I have to get a bigger apartment because I am running out of room!
@RBE from Anon 12:25 - You said exactly how I feel about my music! I would post more but I can't add anything better, so I'll let it stand. Except to say that I hope that by the time you retire, you and your CDs will be able to live in a nice big place you deserve, and not some shoebox that the Ed Deformers will horn us into when they've cut into our salary and pensions.
ReplyDelete