Run For The Borders
Everyone who read my blog knows I'm a big time music consumer. I have been for a long time. Ever since I was a kid, really. And as I read this week about the liquidation/end of Borders books and music's retail chain I realized that all my life I have split most of my music buying habits between big box store chains and small indie or large indie stores.
I cut my music loving teeth on Tower Records (chain) and Rasputin's Records (indie) and Aomeba Music the Bay Area, where I grew up. New stuff usually came from Tower, used or harder to find stuff at the indies. When I went to college in Ashland, OR there were two indie stores and that was it. When I got to Corvallis there was just one indie shop, Happy Trails Music, until the city got a Borders. The Borders really cut into the business of the owner of Happy Trails, who I got to know really well over the years I lived there. I imagine that he has greeted the news of Borders going under with only a mild sigh of relief though. Vinyl, import, and used stuff helped him compete and certainly one less store to compete with will help him but the bigger problem is digital media vs. physical media, and he knows it. Borders has a problem on all 3 ends of ther business: Books, music, and movies. They can't compete with free and they can't compete with legit, cheaper digital formats of the same product.
I've always liked Borders. I've liked their e-mail coupons, I've liked that they stock most mainstream stuff and even some less known stuff, and I've never had a bad experience as a consumer. That said, I can see why they've died and why they need to go. Physical albums won't go away, nor will actual books, but they will likely survive only through smaller retailers that cater to people a bit more "old school". I suspect that on the musical side of things we're not very far away from a world where a new act will see their music initially released only in digital formats via i-Tunes, Amazon, etc. and then only after selling a certain number will they see a physical CD distributed. It makes sense. As a music fan it's not my first choice, as I like CDs (not CDR's but actual discs with album liner notes, etc.) but I can see where we're headed. The same thing is very likely for books. New authors will get a digital only release and then see printed books if there is a demand.
What does concern me in this changing media landscape is the massive holes in physical retail space that are beginning to fill various cities. All those Hollywood video stores, all those Borders... that's a lot of square feet. One shuttered Hollywood near me is now a Buffalo Wings restaurant. Like we needed another chain eatery with high fat food and overpriced drinks, right? The Borders I frequent most is a big spot. It's two stories and was one of the key retail outlets of a larger shopping center. I wonder what will go there? My hope is that maybe Portland's Powell's Books -- which has two other locations aside from it's mothership store in downtown PDX -- will consider another suburban outlet. It would serve a lot of people who don't like having to pay for parking in Portland or deal with traffic.
Anyway... I went in to Borders today and helped them liquidate a bit, thanks to the 30 percent discount. The discounts will get bigger before all is said and done so I prioritized by getting stuff I was pretty sure wouldn't be there on a future visit: A pair of Black Keys albums and a few newer titles they only had one copy of. In a few months it'll be empty. I don't mind it going away. I just hope whatever goes in next is a bit more local or a tad more interesting. If the days of retail chain stores are numbered I hope the spaces they occupied are filled with something that fits a newer world. That said, I'm not terribly optimistic. If I had to bet, my area Borders will be replaced by a Chili's downstairs and an expanded bar upstairs. Ugggh.
J
I cut my music loving teeth on Tower Records (chain) and Rasputin's Records (indie) and Aomeba Music the Bay Area, where I grew up. New stuff usually came from Tower, used or harder to find stuff at the indies. When I went to college in Ashland, OR there were two indie stores and that was it. When I got to Corvallis there was just one indie shop, Happy Trails Music, until the city got a Borders. The Borders really cut into the business of the owner of Happy Trails, who I got to know really well over the years I lived there. I imagine that he has greeted the news of Borders going under with only a mild sigh of relief though. Vinyl, import, and used stuff helped him compete and certainly one less store to compete with will help him but the bigger problem is digital media vs. physical media, and he knows it. Borders has a problem on all 3 ends of ther business: Books, music, and movies. They can't compete with free and they can't compete with legit, cheaper digital formats of the same product.
I've always liked Borders. I've liked their e-mail coupons, I've liked that they stock most mainstream stuff and even some less known stuff, and I've never had a bad experience as a consumer. That said, I can see why they've died and why they need to go. Physical albums won't go away, nor will actual books, but they will likely survive only through smaller retailers that cater to people a bit more "old school". I suspect that on the musical side of things we're not very far away from a world where a new act will see their music initially released only in digital formats via i-Tunes, Amazon, etc. and then only after selling a certain number will they see a physical CD distributed. It makes sense. As a music fan it's not my first choice, as I like CDs (not CDR's but actual discs with album liner notes, etc.) but I can see where we're headed. The same thing is very likely for books. New authors will get a digital only release and then see printed books if there is a demand.
What does concern me in this changing media landscape is the massive holes in physical retail space that are beginning to fill various cities. All those Hollywood video stores, all those Borders... that's a lot of square feet. One shuttered Hollywood near me is now a Buffalo Wings restaurant. Like we needed another chain eatery with high fat food and overpriced drinks, right? The Borders I frequent most is a big spot. It's two stories and was one of the key retail outlets of a larger shopping center. I wonder what will go there? My hope is that maybe Portland's Powell's Books -- which has two other locations aside from it's mothership store in downtown PDX -- will consider another suburban outlet. It would serve a lot of people who don't like having to pay for parking in Portland or deal with traffic.
Anyway... I went in to Borders today and helped them liquidate a bit, thanks to the 30 percent discount. The discounts will get bigger before all is said and done so I prioritized by getting stuff I was pretty sure wouldn't be there on a future visit: A pair of Black Keys albums and a few newer titles they only had one copy of. In a few months it'll be empty. I don't mind it going away. I just hope whatever goes in next is a bit more local or a tad more interesting. If the days of retail chain stores are numbered I hope the spaces they occupied are filled with something that fits a newer world. That said, I'm not terribly optimistic. If I had to bet, my area Borders will be replaced by a Chili's downstairs and an expanded bar upstairs. Ugggh.
J