Bibliophiles Respond to Borders Closure

As the final page turns in the 40-plus-year history of Borders, some local bibliophiles expressed their lament on the closing of the Montgomeryville store.

According to Borders CEO Michael Edwards, the going-out-of-business sales begin today at all Borders stores.

“In a nutshell, following continued negotiations and the best efforts from all parties, no bidders presented a formal proposal to keep our company operating as a going concern,” said Edwards in an email. “Therefore, under the terms of our debtor-in-possession financing agreement, we presented to the court for approval the proposal for firms to purchase our stores’ assets and administer the liquidation process.”

Edwards said Borders had been facing headwinds for some time: a rapidly-changing book industry, the eReader revolution and the turbulent economy.

“We put up a great fight, but regrettably, in the end, we weren’t able to overcome these external forces.”

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On Wednesday evening, there was a steady flow of customers in the Montgomeryville Borders.

The mood was somber; all customers exiting the store – even the ones who did not want to comment on the record – expressed concern about the soon-to-be unemployed.

“It’s really sad. First it was Walden’s, now Borders,” said Mary Andriocky of Harleysville. “Where are the people going to shop for books now? What about the people who depend on their jobs to survive?”

Anna, of Perkasie, thought Borders was a great store.

“I’d rather see people supporting locally-owned bookstores,” she said.

Cianne, of Lansdale, didn’t like to think about the closing.

“I don’t like to see stores go out of business and I really don’t like to see people unemployed,” she said. “Hopefully they’ll be able to find jobs.”

Tom Jacobs, of Chalfont, recognized how we are moving to an all-digital future.

“As soon as Kindle came out, I knew bookstores couldn’t compete,” he said. “There’s no incentive for a customer to leave their home, travel to the mall and buy a hard copy of a book they could have bought online for a quarter of the price.”

Lansdale Patch’s Facebook prompted readers to respond to the closing.

The closure didn’t come as surprise to Bob Bendesky.

He saw foreshadowing of the end of Borders on the day he went for a “Harry Potter” book.

“The day the last ‘Harry Potter’ book came out, my son and I went there to get a copy,” Bendesky said. “They wouldn’t sell one to us because our names weren’t on their ‘prepaid/reserved list.’ So we went to Barnes and Noble. They had stacks of them and were selling them to anyone who wanted to buy a copy. We bought two.”

Rob Bailey, of Lansdale, is sad to see another store close shop.

“I always loved shopping there and picking up books at a great price,” he said.

Sarah Heffner, of Hatfield, looked at the brighter – and free – side of the situation.

“I for one am looking at the convenience of online shopping or the free books at public libraries in the area,” she said.

Michael Cardamone expressed lament on those facing unemployment.

“Less books, less job, more vacant property,” he said. “Not seeing this as a real positive development.”

Heidi Giangiulio said she was “heading for cheap books.”

Karin Rex said the closure “seemed inevitable.”

Tanya Bamford thought the closing was sad.

“Not good for the local economy,” she said.

Marilyn McCloud Forsyth wants the U.S. to get back into actually making goods.

“We need to get back to a country that actually makes things, rather than building more storage shed facilities to store products made in China,” she said.

Amanda Gulick thought it was a bummer.

“But I get all my books off Amazon these days,” she said.

Borders had a Borders Rewards Plus program for its customers.

Edwards said Rewards Plus members can continue to enjoy discounts through August 5. Borders Bucks will be honored until they expire on July 31, he said.

Gift card will be honored during the liquidation sales, Edwards said.

Keith Heffintrayer contributed to this article.