Yesterday I went into a Borders for the 1st time in a year or so. Have to say I was shocked. Both cd's & dvd's have been cut by (I'd guess) about 85%. Other then box sets (they did have 12 feet or so of cd box sets locked in a cabinet), the average Target carries more cd's then this Borders had.

I know the industry is down, but big box stores like Borders have historically looked at sales by square foot, & even with all the books, there was tons of bare floor & even completely empty 12 foot cd racks. Other then the 1 empty 12 foot (or so) rack, they didn't look like they're currently in transition, they looked like a choice was made to have lots of empty floor space. I also can't imagine that there's enough $'s in books (& a good percentage of what Borders sells are remainders at that) to pay their high overhead. Amazing thing is I drive by this store frequently, & even with no stock left to speak of, the parking lot is always full.

I don't know if all Borders have cut back this far, but I suspect they're on the way out. Unfortunately there are so few cd's it won't even be worth shopping the going out of business sale.

I have no more information than you do, Geff, but I can't believe they're going to last much longer.

The Borders down in Ft. Myers has cut out CD's and DVD's completely.

Hey Andrew, do you still miss Borders Blend?

They should cut down to just graphic novels & manga.

*sigh* I must admit, I do like Seattles Best better than Joe Muggs, or anything Starbucks sells, but...

...yes.

Isn't Seattle's Best just downmarket Starbucks?

They've been on numerous "Chains Likely to Close in 2010" lists; and they e-mail a coupon for 30% Off any item pretty much every week.

I hope they stay in business, I prefer them to B&N and Books A Million, myself.

I hope not. Even though I'm more of a Books a Million customer. I'm still disappointed that so many Hollywood Videos are going out of business as well as Blockbuster taking a big hit.

Starbucks bought Seattle's Best about 5 years ago.......

I don't think it's completely hit me yet that the days of physical stores for "media" are basically over.

They recently went through a round off layoffs at the corporate level, and it wouldn't surprise me to see some locations close, but as a chain I say they'll tough out 2010.

Sadly, whether online or physical stores, media's hardest days are still likely ahead it.

I better use up that gift card I have from Christmas -- pronto!

They made a big pullback on CDs/DVDs last year to go back to a focus as a bookstore. I prefer them to B&N, but neither chain is really perfect. Borders lost a bit of focus as they moved to trying to be all things. There are still some things they could do to stand out from other bookstores, but, much like everyone else, it's going to be a tough year for them. One thing that could really help would be to return to their old policy of 10% off every hardcover - it's been years since they've done that. Carrying a bit more selection would help, too, but I wonder how much of that is dictated to the stores versus being something each store can change. Neither the Borders nor the B&N near me carries as much in their entertainment sections as more distant stores around here. I can't believe that there's a much bigger market for books about music 20 miles east of here, but that's what the B&N selection at the two stores would suggest.

My closest Borders seems to be making a bigger pullback on CDs/DVDs - I commented to my wife last week that they look much like they did before the big sale last year.

Alan

Borders has always had schizophrenic pricing on CDs and DVDs, IMO. New stuff is overpriced, but catalog stuff can be very cheap.

I think Borders should definitely focus more on books and print media; there's already too many people fishing off the DVD/CD pier.

My Borders has eliminated the comic trades entirely except for Manga and a few "precious" books by writers like Gaiman, Moore, and Miller. The ones non-comic readers buy.

my borders has about 10% of the CD inventory they used to have.

Well, shit! I guess it's all AmazWAN all the time then!

I've always thought Borders was ridiculously overpriced on books, but I've always loved going in there and seeing what books I want, then coming home and ordering them from Amazon.com for about $10-15 cheaper. My wife and I have done that for years.
Most of our malls have seen Borders closing their mini-stores all of which sucked anyway. I prefer B&N to Borders but both have their good and bad qualities.
The book industry is yet another one of my favorite things being destroyed by the internet.

All of our Borders, except the one in Columbia Mall, have really large graphic novel selections and large separate manga sections. I don't see how their books are "ridiculously overpriced"-- they charge retail like every other brick and mortar bookseller-- plus, they have a weekly coupon for at least 25% off.