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Mourning the Downtown Crossing Borders
By adamg on Mon, 06/13/2011 - 7:45am
Maureen Rogers is left wondering where she'll go for new books now:
When I saw the news the other day, I immediately dropped in and spent nearly a hundred bucks on books, boo-hooing all the way.
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Comments
Wait...
She JUST found out late last week? I'm guessing she wasn't a regular customer then.
Tough crowd
A lot of us only found out last Thursday (granted, I admit I'm not a regular customer).
My bad!
Well now I look foolish! I thought this one was announced as closing the same time as the Boylston Street location.
Still, she laments there not being anywhere to buy books in DTX anymore in the same sentence she mentions there being several used book stores (within a few blocks no less)! I just found that sentence very amusing!
It is a shame to have such a large space empty in DTX, goodness knows we don't need more of those. And I'm sure there is a sizable loss of jobs that go along with the closing. Again, a huge shame. I just found her complaints about having to go to the library or a Borders in Cambridge kind of funny. If she's so worried about convenience and doesn't want to patron a used book store in DTX, she should just go on Amazon and be part of the reason all these large chain stores are closing.
Again, my bad.
I should just shut up and drink some more coffee this morning. She says there is no where in DTX to buy NEW books anymore.
Foot meet mouth.
You're having a worse day than Borders is
In fairness, physical stores for new books are becoming increasingly rare all around. Was just thinking about that in Chestnut Hill yesterday. For books, if you're not within range of increasingly disappearing Borders and Barnes and Noble outfits or, oddly, a Costco, you're just crossing your fingers that there's an independent shop nearby. I love the Booksmith and I'm glad its there, but I also loved when it wasn't my only option within miles.
Was in The Strand last weekend and was hoping that there wouldn't be a day when it and Powell's would be the only option for people looking to buy a new, tangible book.
Not amazon, try Better World
Not amazon, try Better World Books first! :)
Go to Trident!
Go to Trident!
Trident
Good idea. After reading your comment here, I posted the same suggestion back on her blog.
True, but it's a serious haul
True, but it's a serious haul from downtown - something you're not going to be able to pull off over a lunch hour.
The Trident might not have
The Trident might not have every book you're looking for but they've got awesome discounts.
May I suggest
her local library?!
Read her post
The BPL in Copley Square is one of her possibilities.
Library
The West End Branch at 151 Cambridge St would be closer than Copley.
Where to buy books downtown
She should shop at the Brattle Book Shop on West St. I do not know if they will order new books for her but most independent bookshops will.
All or Nothing
As someone who has converted mostly to Kindle perhaps I should shut up...
But the one thing bookstores with a plethora of new stock on the shelf like Borders had going for them was the ability to find something good to read when you have no direction.
Sure you can go to some independent shop but the odds of finding something go way down along with the selection. And you can't have them order something if you don't know what you want.
I still have browsing problems on Amazon. It's wonderful if you know just what you want but can be difficult if you're not sure what you want. But for the most part everything you could want is there. Even in a big store like Borders downtown you would find book 2 of a trilogy but not 1 and 3, or similar such omissions.
Time to Change DTX
Borders made a bold move by locating in downtown crossing. However, as a company, they've had numerous CEO changes in recent years as they missed the ebook trend, which followed missing internet marketing.
Despite the grand scale of Borders Downtown Crossing store and heavy commuter traffic in the area, one has to assume that it wasn't sufficiently profitable.
I have no idea if Jordan Marsh (or Macy's as some folks call it) is profitable. Like Borders, I think Downtown crossing is out of phase with the times. Originally laid out as the destination shopping areas with mid and High end department stores where middle and upper class folks would come for hours, eat lunch in a sit-down restaurant and go home. Today's downtown crossing is one of several shopping destinations many of which are closer to middle-class shopper.
Perhaps a re-positioning of DTX to include discount stores such as mix of discount stores that city residents are lacking in such as a
Target, or dare I say, Wally World would better serve the area?
A Target would be great, not
A Target would be great, not that the Borders site would be large enough. Still, wouldn't it be novel if there were one place downtown where I could buy a garden hose, a Barbie Doll and a box of Cheerios and get back on the subway? (Don't ask me what I'm going to do with them). I miss the Woolworth's that was down there - you could get a friggin' hamster and a grilled cheese sandwich! (Don't ask me what I did with those).
Woolworth's: Ahhhh, yes, I remember them fondly.
One could also get budgieriars there for a reasonable price, also. As someone who had budgierars as a kid, I know.
Spelling nit
If you're going to get fancy and not use the commonly known term "parakeet," you should either stick with the abbreviated "budgie" or get it all the way correct: budgerigar.
Barnes and Noble
There is a Barnes and Noble at the Copley Mall. It's right across the street from the BPL. Just mentioning another place where you can go to buy new books. It's a decent sized store.