A completely unscientific survey on the state of bookstore chains

[pbray]

While in Connecticut this weekend, I stopped by a few bookstores.

The first store I stopped at was a Borders. There isn't one near where I live, so I always enjoy checking one out, and usually find unique titles to buy. This Borders, however, seemed to bear out the dire messages I've been hearing. The nonfiction was reasonably well-stocked, but in the fiction sections there were large holes where stock should be. The science fiction section was strangely organized--media titles were shelved among the general titles, so Dr Who books were filed under D, Star Trek and Star Wars both under S, Torchwood under T, Forgotten Realms titles were all filed under F, etc. The CD section was at least a third empty, and so poorly organized that I gave up looking. Normally a Borders has displays of new or featured titles for various subject areas, but these had been cut back or were empty.

Next up was a Borders Express at the local mall. I still can't figure out the difference between a Borders Express and a Waldenbooks, but the Express store was well-stocked, with a heavy emphasis on holiday gifts. Though I did notice that certain authors with new releases that had been absent from the Borders were also not carried by this Borders Express.

After dinner it was time to hit the Barnes & Noble superstore. Since we have a B&N here, I compared it to our local store, and noticed a few differences--the Connecticut store is slightly smaller, and proportionally children's books take up a larger percentage of floor space, but they were roughly similar in terms of the SF section. Authors stocked included new releases that had been conspicuously absent from both Borders.

While driving home, I took a break at Middletown, and visited their Borders. This store was well-stocked, there were interesting displays of new and featured releases, and the SF fiction was organized in a way that made sense (no gaping holes, and the media and specialty titles placed at the ends of the section.) Perhaps not surprising, here I picked up two hardcovers--one history and one literature.

Conclusion--if I was judging the health of the Borders chain by the first store I'd visited, I would have been extremely worried. But I'm more inclined to chalk that one up to poor management. Will have to wait and see how the bookstores and the rest of the retail industry fares during the holiday shopping season.

Comments

[rkbwrites.livejournal.com]

As for the health of Borders, the Borders in Crasnton, RI has become like the first Borders you mentioned. It used to be nice well stacked store but recently with Borders finacial problems the store had some gaping holes.

Some of the holes are big enough to make me go to B+N on RTE2 in Warwick...

[pbray.livejournal.com]

And then at some point it's a death spiral, since if they are perpetually out of stock or so disorganized that loyal customers stop coming to the store, the financial problems will only get worse.