By the way
This is the article from Friday's paper that announced our store's closing:
Waldenbooks to close shop at mall
ST. CHARLES - The Waldenbooks store at Charlestowne Mall will close after business Feb. 17, a spokeswoman for parent firm Borders Inc. said Thursday.
Waldenbooks debuted at the mall in August 1991, said Holley Stein, a public-relations specialist for Borders in Ann Arbor, Mich.
It was the year that the mall opened on St. Charles' east side.
"This is one that was no longer economically viable," Stein said of the store.
Stein noted that Borders has converted about 150 former Waldenbooks stores into Borders Express stores, giving Borders an estimated 500 smaller stores under the Waldenbooks, Brentano's and Borders Express brands.
Borders also operates larger stores, including one across the street from Charlestowne Mall in the Main Street Commons shopping center.
An additional Borders store is on Randall Road in Geneva.
“We feel we are still able to meet the needs of the community through the Borders stores we have in St. Charles and Geneva,” Stein said.
- Roald Haase
Oh, you have no idea how mad this little article made me. It appeared on the left-hand side of the Business page of Friday's paper; it was the first little blurb article in that column.
I realize, via the article, that I have named my mall. Well, seeing as I no longer will be working there, I suppose it no longer matters that I wanted to keep it a secret. But realize that the mall is maybe 60% occupied. Maybe. I think R said that there were 37 empty storefronts and 50-some occupied ones. I'll be honest, that number seems high. When you don't have customers, it's hard to keep a store afloat. We did our darnedest. And we certainly had our repeat customers, most of whom we loved or liked or at least smiled at when we saw them. Those customers were very loyal to us, and now we've broken that loyalty. Some came from long distances to shop with us, bypassing other malls and WBs, because they liked us and the service we provided. A number of them flat-out hate Borders because they're too big and impersonal and the employees aren't very good at customer service. Take the BR card--we have no idea what if any information the employees tell the customer about the card. So many people tell us that they were just given the card and that's that. Good job there, guys.
Then, of course, is the fact that the company even put in a Borders across the street from us in the first place. Hello, why would you put yourself in direct competition with yourself? That makes no sense. And the Geneva Borders is maybe five miles away. It's not a hardship for our customers to shop there. Over time, it did become convenient to have them there, as we'll often call back and forth to see if one store or the other has a book for someone. However, you can't believe how many customers whine about us suggesting that they go there. Yes. It's across the street. You have to drive there. It's not my fault you came to my store looking for some random obscure title that there's no way in hell we'd carry. Get a clue.
Notice that the number of WB/specialty stores was given as about 500. There were a good 700 of them when I started with the company. They're really pushing the superstore (Borders) part of the company. In some ways, I wouldn't doubt it if all of the mall bookstores in the company closed. They really don't seem to give a damn about us anymore. But they don't seem to get that they should. They are alienating a number of customers by pulling out of malls.
Back to our mall. Countless people over the past few years have asked us about the condition of the mall. All I can say is that about five years ago, when the ten-year leases went up, that's the same time that other shopping centers opened in the area. A number of stores fled our mall for those new places, for whatever reason. Some stores have come in since that time--Von Maur, Hollister. But most of the remaining stores, like ours, have been there either since the beginning or for nearly as long as I've been there. So many have closed. So many. You wonder what will be left, if anything. I need to start telling people to go to the mall office and ask them what's going on, and request certain stores come in. Let them know what you want. Let them know that you're disappointed something couldn't be worked out to keep certain stores in. Our mall won't have a bookstore once we're gone. We already haven't had a music/DVD store for over a year. There's no sit-down restaurant. Even the nail place is gone. So many people are predicting the mall's demise; it does seem inevitable. But that's not how it should be.
Waldenbooks to close shop at mall
ST. CHARLES - The Waldenbooks store at Charlestowne Mall will close after business Feb. 17, a spokeswoman for parent firm Borders Inc. said Thursday.
Waldenbooks debuted at the mall in August 1991, said Holley Stein, a public-relations specialist for Borders in Ann Arbor, Mich.
It was the year that the mall opened on St. Charles' east side.
"This is one that was no longer economically viable," Stein said of the store.
Stein noted that Borders has converted about 150 former Waldenbooks stores into Borders Express stores, giving Borders an estimated 500 smaller stores under the Waldenbooks, Brentano's and Borders Express brands.
Borders also operates larger stores, including one across the street from Charlestowne Mall in the Main Street Commons shopping center.
An additional Borders store is on Randall Road in Geneva.
“We feel we are still able to meet the needs of the community through the Borders stores we have in St. Charles and Geneva,” Stein said.
- Roald Haase
Oh, you have no idea how mad this little article made me. It appeared on the left-hand side of the Business page of Friday's paper; it was the first little blurb article in that column.
I realize, via the article, that I have named my mall. Well, seeing as I no longer will be working there, I suppose it no longer matters that I wanted to keep it a secret. But realize that the mall is maybe 60% occupied. Maybe. I think R said that there were 37 empty storefronts and 50-some occupied ones. I'll be honest, that number seems high. When you don't have customers, it's hard to keep a store afloat. We did our darnedest. And we certainly had our repeat customers, most of whom we loved or liked or at least smiled at when we saw them. Those customers were very loyal to us, and now we've broken that loyalty. Some came from long distances to shop with us, bypassing other malls and WBs, because they liked us and the service we provided. A number of them flat-out hate Borders because they're too big and impersonal and the employees aren't very good at customer service. Take the BR card--we have no idea what if any information the employees tell the customer about the card. So many people tell us that they were just given the card and that's that. Good job there, guys.
Then, of course, is the fact that the company even put in a Borders across the street from us in the first place. Hello, why would you put yourself in direct competition with yourself? That makes no sense. And the Geneva Borders is maybe five miles away. It's not a hardship for our customers to shop there. Over time, it did become convenient to have them there, as we'll often call back and forth to see if one store or the other has a book for someone. However, you can't believe how many customers whine about us suggesting that they go there. Yes. It's across the street. You have to drive there. It's not my fault you came to my store looking for some random obscure title that there's no way in hell we'd carry. Get a clue.
Notice that the number of WB/specialty stores was given as about 500. There were a good 700 of them when I started with the company. They're really pushing the superstore (Borders) part of the company. In some ways, I wouldn't doubt it if all of the mall bookstores in the company closed. They really don't seem to give a damn about us anymore. But they don't seem to get that they should. They are alienating a number of customers by pulling out of malls.
Back to our mall. Countless people over the past few years have asked us about the condition of the mall. All I can say is that about five years ago, when the ten-year leases went up, that's the same time that other shopping centers opened in the area. A number of stores fled our mall for those new places, for whatever reason. Some stores have come in since that time--Von Maur, Hollister. But most of the remaining stores, like ours, have been there either since the beginning or for nearly as long as I've been there. So many have closed. So many. You wonder what will be left, if anything. I need to start telling people to go to the mall office and ask them what's going on, and request certain stores come in. Let them know what you want. Let them know that you're disappointed something couldn't be worked out to keep certain stores in. Our mall won't have a bookstore once we're gone. We already haven't had a music/DVD store for over a year. There's no sit-down restaurant. Even the nail place is gone. So many people are predicting the mall's demise; it does seem inevitable. But that's not how it should be.