Yesterday I ventured to Borders at Melbourne Central. I must admit that I felt strange walking in; kind of like I was there to pick at the remains of a relationship.
While I didn't work at Borders, I did spend a number of years employed with Angus & Robertson and I'm finding it very sad that so many bookstores are closing. The news last week was that all Borders stores in Australia are closing and that the Administrators were having a fire sale.
Well, I'll be the first in line for cheap books, but there was definitely something very sad about being in that store yesterday. I felt bad for the staff; did my being there rub the salt in their wounds. After all, surely they're all being made redundant. Or was it OK to enjoy the benefits of discounted books and throw a few coins into the coffers so that these good folk will at least get their entitlements.
Of course, there's a good chance that I was just being hyper-sensitive and I should just realise that this is what happens in the business world. Companies come and go and we all need to roll with the punches.
The upshot was that I walked away with a great knitting book, a sewing book (for when I finally purchase a sewing machine and learn to sew) and a few presents for upcoming birthdays.
So for me, all was not lost. but I will still mourn the loss of our bookstores.
A lot of Borders stores are closing the the UK as well, I think there are only a few left in the big cities now (London and Birmingham ect). I think it is a real shame, but I think with the recession and everything, people aren't willing to spend £8 or £9 on a book they could get for £5 of amazon, or for even less off ebay and a charity shop. I find that Charity bookshops are my new favourite book shops- Oxfam Books especially. It has that lovely old-book/library smell (Plus it goes to a good cause).
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's a shame, but I have found that I like previously owned books even more than new ones- I love to imagine or think about who owned them before me!
Hannah
We're going to have no Borders stores left! You're right, Hannah, there are always other ways to buy books, but it seems quite significant that one of our most prominent book chains is completely closing.
ReplyDeleteI've become a library frequenter over the last few years, so it's probably partly my fault!