Wintertime Opinion Piece 2- Bookstores went out of Bussiness because of Greed

The empty Borders on
Route 1 in North Attleboro

I used to enjoy going into Border’s Bookstore. They had seating to read, a huge selection of magazines and a lot of books. The bookstore was huge. They had a great selection of books. However they were expensive. Unless you are into classic literature you were likely to pay $15-20 for a book. I understand new releases in hardcover will be more expensive than older paperbacks. That said, there prices weren’t even close to Amazon.

I understand that Borders has to pay rent, upkeep for the building and pay employees. If I wanted a book bad enough, I’d pay the extra couple bucks to have it in my hands right away instead of wait a few days from Amazon.com. But their books were not a dollar or two more. It was usually cheaper to pay the $3.99 shipping then to buy it down the street.

I know people will tell you to “buy local”. Keep the money in the community. But you know what; this is my money we are talking about. I’m not going to shell out an extra five bucks if I can keep it. Besides I’m not talking about a mom and pop diner or hardware store. Places like Walden Books, Borders, and Barnes and Noble are big chains that if they were smarter and less greedy, I believe could have competed with Amazon.

Here is an example of a chain store not being smart. I wanted to read ‘The Great Gatsby” before the movie came out. I made a trip to the Barnes and Noble in Bellingham, MA off of I-495. All they had were twenty dollar hardcover copies. Some special editions ran as high as $30. Where the hell were the $5.99 Penguin Classics? All of the sudden the paperbacks are nonexistent. Could this be so the bookstores could capitalize on the movie hype? Did they assume people would buy the $30 hardcover so they could read it before the movie came out? So needless to say I walked out and picked up a copy online for a couple bucks.

What does this have to do with outdoors? I buy a lot of books on hiking and fishing. Long before I went out west I was buying travel guides about Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. I certainly would not expect Borders to compete with Amazon for variety of books. A Borders in Mass isn’t going to carry a book about Fishing the Beartooth Mountains. To their credit, they did carry books on national parks, traveling in particular states and other travel related books. Again they would be $15-23, all the while I could buy them online for half that and sometimes for just a buck or so used.

So to sum up, I don’t feel bad for big chain bookstores that go out of business. I think they could have competed with Amazon if they were not so greedy. I love buying books online so their closing doesn’t really affect me. I feel bad for the people that enjoy going to a bookstore and reading a magazine while enjoying a cup of espresso.