http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/books-without-borders/Content?oid=9322294 Comments On: Books Without Borders by Paul Constant en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Tue, 21 May 2013 19:30:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Posted by Debbie Phillips]]> Thu, 26 Jul 2012 23:51:08 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Koomer]]> Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:09:07 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Seeeee]]> Mon, 22 Aug 2011 06:58:41 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Aro2220.com]]> Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:00:36 -0700 The Stranger Posted by winfran]]> Wed, 17 Aug 2011 07:02:06 -0700 The Stranger Posted by DUer]]> Wed, 17 Aug 2011 01:04:05 -0700 The Stranger
You complain about not being able to unionize Borders earlier. The fact that they weren't unionized probably extended their life (and the ability for 11,000 employees to enjoy a bookselling job) a few years more.

Posted by Chauncey (not my real name)]]> Mon, 15 Aug 2011 23:21:44 -0700 The Stranger Posted by cheap book lover]]> Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:22:18 -0700 The Stranger Posted by notaregusr]]> Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:27:53 -0700 The Stranger
People who love books and reading, will continue to read regardless of the format/media their books come in. And if books are presented in a way that is compatible with the busy and mobile way people live nowadays, all the better. Lugging a thousand-pager on the commuter train or on a camping trip would be quite inconvenient, for example.
Posted by Vladi]]> Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:28:11 -0700 The Stranger
Great article!
Posted by DZ 105]]> Fri, 12 Aug 2011 10:40:05 -0700 The Stranger
RESTROOMS: "Sorry, no public restrooms. Plumbing out of order."

INVENTORY COMPUTERS: All off, some removed.

BOOKS: Did not see popular books. Removed for re-sale elsewhere? A lot of new books that reminded me of warehouses dumping non-sellers.

MAGAZINES: Half the shelf space. Other half 100% Books for Dummies. Score a "Windows 2003 Server for Dummies" there.

SEATING: All seating removed.

SEATTLE'S BEST COFFEE: Long since closed.

CDs and DVDs: Still double Target prices.

PRODUCT SELECTION: World's largest collection of cookbooks and Romance novels, large inventory of Lady Gaga magazines.

BOARDER'S REWARDS CARD: "Sorry but that ended yesterday."

NEW PRODUCTS: Full selection of bathrobes and bath slippers for women.

This actually does not surprise us here in Seattle. When Fredric & Nelson went out of business, all the good stuff disappeared overnight and profoundly inferior products appeared on all shelves throughout the store. In the ensuing uproar, David Saby informed the P.I., Times, and the public it was his store and he would sell WTF he wanted to.
Posted by MommaRaisedNoFool]]> Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:21:32 -0700 The Stranger
The first week of the close-out when the computers were shut down, we smelled the stench of what they were pulling and have not been back since.
Posted by MommaRaisedNoFool]]> Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:09:02 -0700 The Stranger Posted by iloveeasshoes]]> Wed, 10 Aug 2011 22:44:39 -0700 The Stranger http://news.yahoo.com/world-without-bord…
Posted by GinnyGB]]> Wed, 10 Aug 2011 10:09:20 -0700 The Stranger Posted by maryalice1]]> Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:37:14 -0700 The Stranger
I'm sorry for the people on the ground who are losing their jobs in this miserable economy, but when a corporation's senior management makes bad decision after bad decision, the only appropriate outcomes are either to clean house at the top or to just shut the damned doors.
Posted by Functional Atheist]]> Wed, 10 Aug 2011 02:19:19 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Ed F.]]> Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:14:00 -0700 The Stranger
It was my first retail job and it was a trial by fire. I worked during the "key" and "make" book era. We were required to push certain titles - regardless of our opinion of them and whether or not we'd read them - and our numbers were tracked. Employees with low key and make numbers were fired without consideration of what else they sold, how well they knew their store and clientele, or how long they'd worked for the company. The managers of stores with low key and make numbers were also punished and at times fired, regardless of their performance in their district.

Well. I just ran out of steam thinking about it all. Suffice to say by the time I left I felt I might as well have been selling shower curtains at KMart (who paid more, btw). It was retail hell and the smell of desperation in the air stunk.

I am snarkily interested to see how my local GM fares. Over a decade of people management by firing and allowing the computer generation to pass her by is about to bite her in the ass. A legion of employees she sacrificed on the alter of Ann Arbor's absurdities is about to bite her on the ass.
Posted by FailingatAnonymity]]> Tue, 09 Aug 2011 13:51:42 -0700 The Stranger
"Wall Street loved the flash and glitz of Borders' international expansion, and it paid out well in the short term"

That quote really sums it up. The entire business outlook now seems to be for 'the short term'. They care about next quarter's profits only. They ride the cash pony fast & HARD until it's allll worn out. Then they hire some expendable ferret-faces to take over and finish running it into the ground while they sell their stocks and disassociate themselves with the business. They don't give a crap about books or employees or anything else. They just want to ride that cash train and get out the second their quarterlies dip below a certain %. Then they make or buy a new business and start all over again. This most basic thought process is the reason our country is circling the drain economicly.
Posted by Cynner]]> Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:57:41 -0700 The Stranger
Then the awesomeness of cleaning shit off the walls of the public restrooms started to wear thin. And gathering up the unpurchased photography books arrayed around the shitter, opened to nudes.

Then the efficiency consultants arrived to watch us take change out of the tills and to explain that we were wasting company time by turning our wrists this way instead of that way. And so on.

I have fond, wistful memories, but I knew it was dead before I left in 93.
Posted by aureolaborealis]]> Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:55:36 -0700 The Stranger
"Wall Street loved the flash and glitz of Borders' international expansion, and it paid out well in the short term"

That quote really sums it up. The entire business outlook now seems to be for 'the short term'. They care about next quarter's profits only. They ride the cash pony fast & HARD until it's allll worn out. Then they hire some expendable ferret-faces to take over and finish running it into the ground while they sell their stocks and disassociate themselves with the business. They don't give a crap about books or employees or anything else. They just want to ride that cash train and get out the second their quarterlies dip below a certain %. Then they make or buy a new business and start all over again. This most basic thought process is the reason our country is circling the drain economicly.
Posted by Cynner]]> Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:54:42 -0700 The Stranger
Hmph. Sounds legit.

Posted by lol This Guy.]]> Tue, 09 Aug 2011 03:11:39 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Adam12]]> Mon, 08 Aug 2011 21:11:04 -0700 The Stranger Posted by super manga/anime/videogame/movie e.t.c expert]]> Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:35:31 -0700 The Stranger