It’s
been nearly two years since Borders shuttered itself, unable to survive the
dual onslaught of a punishing recession and dramatic changes with e-books and
tablets. Seemingly overnight, a powerhouse in the publishing industry and
retail world was gone.
Some
thought or hoped that with Borders’ passing, Barnes & Noble would be able
to survive, maybe even thrive. But once the giant book chain was rid of its
main competitor of the 1990’s and 2000’s, it found itself falling further
behind its biggest rival of the present: Amazon. Imagine the US defeats Russia in a war, only to
then be placed in a position to have to fight China. For B&N, the battle with
digital books overall, and Amazon’s retail prowess, is turning into its own
Vietnam. It’s unwinnable.
When’s
the last time you saw a new B&N open up? They are downsizing stores in the
coming years. It believes it needs to shrink in order to remain in business. It
has already closed some stores in the last few years, even in very literate and
consumer-friendly cities like New York.
There
once was a huge B&N -- five floors high -- by Lincoln Center on 65th
and Broadway. It closed a few years ago. It pains me to walk by that street
corner and see its replacement all lit up. I’d take a bookstore over another
clothing store anytime.
By
my office there used to be a cavernous Borders, on 57th and Park
Avenue. By my home in Westchester there used to be a Borders. Both spaces are
still empty and void of any literary life. I
feel sadness when I walk by their vacant grounds, reflecting on what used to
be, lamenting on what could have been.
The
wound is still open. When a bookstore closes it feels like I lost a girlfriend
or broke up with someone. I don’t feel that way with any other industry or
brand, though if a Starbucks ever closed I’d cry my tall skim mocha eyes
caffeine dry.
Perhaps
the closest I feel about being around book graveyards is when I am by closed up movie
theaters. I recall every neighborhood theatre that went dark -- The Oceana, the
Midwood, the Avalon, Kingsway -- all in my youth-filled hometown of Brooklyn. They got
replaced by banks, drug stores, and shlockholes.
Bookstores
are holy to me. They hold such strong memories and feelings. They offer the
world’s voices and give refuge to so many people. The stacks of books shield
us from the realities of the world by providing us with new ideas, empowering
facts, or diversionary fantasies. When is a bookstore closing ever a good thing
for a neighborhood?
The
cleansing of bookstores from our streets is not at all complete, but it’s in
motion. You can feel it in the air. There will come a day where bookstores are
more like novelty shops, cast aside as a hobby or a more remnant of a bygone
era. It’ll take historians and museums to explain what books used to be and how
bookstores were once society’s glue.
I
still mourn for the days when bookstores ruled the land. I mourn for the future
that is destined to be.
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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog
are his alone and not that of his employer, Media Connect, the nation’s largest
book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him
at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important
when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2013
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