Which borders bookstores are closing

Bad move: Around then, people stopped buying CDs as they began buying iPods instead. And when it finally reduced music inventories, Borders found itself with more expensive retail space than it needed, putting additional pressure on its business model. What will take Borders place? And there still seems to be a place for traditional bookstores — just not in the size and scope as they were.

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Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Ad Choices. Fact-forward news for readers like you who want to know more. Subscribe today. By Janet H. In , Borders applied for bankruptcy and ultimately liquidated its surviving locations.

Founded in Maryland in , Crown Books cemented a reputation for discounts. Founder Robert Haft borrowed money from his father, Herbert, in order to launch the fast-growing chain, which began popping up all around the country in subsequent years. The Baltimore Sun reported that Herbert attempted to wrest control of the company from his son, who subsequently filed suit.

In the end, Haft Sr. But this wasn't a happy ending for the bookseller; with the death of its parent company, Crown Books went through a series of bankruptcies, according to the Washington Business Journal. By , the company was completely liquidated. The name still lives on at a few locations, although it is not associated with the original chain, according to the San Diego Reader.

The first Waldenbooks store launched in , although its founders had been in the book-renting business since the s. Kmart snapped up Waldenbooks in Within Kmart, Waldenbooks and Borders would eventually merge and then later spin off as an independent bookseller in But Borders stores occupied 25, square feet on average, and it's hard to make a profit renting some of America's prime real estate at that level when people primarily enjoy looking at the only product you have to sell.

In other words, bookstores in America have become more park-like for many consumers than action-oriented book buying spots. And Borders has been putting an exclamation mark on that reality for years, since it was the leader of that park-like pack nationally. The stores would have been great if they were truly park-like, with government subsidies filling in for the lack of profit. Such frank talk makes people angry, and defensive. Borders was great, they say. Leave them alone.

We're sad to see them go. Yes, we all are, just are most of us are sad to see hundreds of other bookstores closing across America in recent years, including independent stores and chains.

Nobody loves bookstores more than me.