The End of Borders: Resurgence of Indie Bookstores and Possible Slowdown of E-Readers

There was once a time back in the 1990's when we thought Borders was going to be the McDonald's of bookstores, meaning franchised on every other block. While that initially absurd thought came very close, we never did see it happen. But at their peak, you could generally see a Borders within five miles from the last one you saw. The proclamation was that Borders would eventually cut out the independent bookstores that dotted city retail spaces where a Borders didn't exist. That happened to some, though ultimately not as many as it potentially could have been.

Over time, what kept the indie stores in business was either providing specialized books or keeping prices below what Borders had. Outside the Borders Rewards Program for discounts, prices for new books there were generally more than you'd pay online or at the indie stores.

This seems to be an unspoken part of the wide picture to why Borders failed in recent years. The news that the Kindle, Nook and other eReaders brought down Borders is more or less overwrought when you consider that eReaders and Borders seemed to be working in tandem.

And it can also be argued that because not all interesting books are on eReaders yet, chances are Borders made sales on those particular tangible books.

It's also an arguable case that the real reason behind the success of eReaders is more to do with discounted price than the convenience of reading a book digitally.

When it comes to all entertainment media, Americans don't want to pay a bundle to see, hear or read it. We saw evidence of that this month when Netflix raised their rates to a fair rate from a business standpoint, yet unleashed a furious wrath from the public who used the service for years.

The same case applies to books, especially when so many of them are criticized after spending weeks of one's time reading one just because it's on the New York Times bestseller list. We want to read, and it doesn't matter what the format is as long as it's cheap enough where it doesn't hurt as much if we ultimately don't like the book. We also enjoy finding unusual books that are usually ten times better than what the New York Times says you should read.

This is where the independent bookstores that survived can potentially reignite while also capitulating to international bestsellers. If you look around your town, you may be surprised to learn that more independent bookstores are still around than you thought.

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The assumption in my own hometown the last ten years has been that Borders was the last gasp of brick & mortar bookstores, period. However, right before Borders' liquidation began, my local newspaper did a piece about local, independent bookstores that are still extant. It turned out we have half-a-dozen of them still in existence that survived due to smart discounts and providing unique books to a small crowd who preferred supporting independents above corporate behemoths.

With the demise of Borders, these stores may ironically thrive and go back to the profits they enjoyed back before Borders permeated their block. Many of them plan to bring more bestsellers into their stock after Borders closes as a way to pick up slack for those who still enjoy the bookstore experience.

But out of all possible outcomes after Borders closes, it's the eReader that might be the most affected as alluded. If you know people who work at Borders, they'll tell you that many recent customers went to a Borders to find out what's available in eBook form. If they didn't buy the book directly from Borders, then they went home to buy it for their Kindle or Nook. Of course, Borders temporarily had their own eBook store for use with other eReaders. Borders also promoted the discounted Kobo eReader that will reportedly continue as the last reminder of Borders' existence.

If other eReaders have a slip in sales due to Borders closing, then we'll see a frustrating glimpse of what could have been in balancing the world of eReaders and real books. Had Borders pushed the Kobo a little stronger a couple of years ago with Kobo providing some technical improvements, we could have seen Borders survive as the new perfect balance between digital and print.

Based on the open laments from those who support Borders, America has enough people out there who hate eReaders and prefer real books and real bookstores. It's all enough to help the independent bookstores that managed to hang on all this time. While other business insiders think indie stores will be all but extinct in a few years, you can expect some resurgence in ones still existing.

They'll thrive even more providing broader and unique content as independent bookstores have strived to do. A good template for these stores is Powell's Bookstore in Portland, Oregon. (See Resources) There you have an independent bookstore that may have felt the pain of the economy in recent years, yet has a strong customer base based on providing virtually any title--plus unique, out-of-print books you can't find anywhere else in the nation.

Powell's is also close to being designated its own district in downtown Portland, which is a warning if you ever visit there.

An independent bookstore ultimately doesn't have to be that large to succeed. Should the surviving ones do well, we could be talking about an independent bookstore being again available in as many locations as Borders once had.

The only thing that would put a complete kibosh on this scenario is when eReaders provide 100 percent of everything available in print. Since that seems to be a long way off for all digital media services, the balance between real books and digital seems to be just a few dollars and opinions away from being perfectly equal.

Resources (My wrong prediction of what would happen to Borders):

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/673417/how_portland_oregons_powells_books.html?cat=38