tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8472627207351085411.post8499272807119728043..comments2023-11-02T07:36:10.776-04:00Comments on Parenthetical Asides: Farewell To The BooksMusicCafeDale Glaserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13720028364651179526noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8472627207351085411.post-35998807740653112472011-09-15T10:07:14.489-04:002011-09-15T10:07:14.489-04:00The original Borders in Ann Arbor moved in the lat...The original Borders in Ann Arbor moved in the late nineties. It used to be at the intersection of State & Liberty (symbolism!), then moved a block away. The original site is now an Urban Outfitters, I think.<br /><br />Growing up in Ann Arbor, Borders felt to me like a preview of Nerd Valhalla. When K-Mart bought it around 1990 or so and franchised it, I was horrified they'd screw it up. They did, kinda -- the original was all books, nothing else -- but the satellite Borders were all equally Nerd Valhallic. Which is now a word, thank you very much.<br /><br />Ann Arbor was and probably is jammed with used book stores, too. Great for a fourteen year old with a thick nerd streak and badly limited funds. I can still smell the stacks at David's Books, the second-floor used book hovel across the street from Borders...<br /><br />I hit the Borders closest to me last weekend. The shelves had been annihilated. However, a few sections remained fairly intact. Biographies were in healthy supply, for example, and computer books weren't running short either. And then there were two specific books that they had drastically overestimated demand for, and had in giant stacks: "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," and whatever Sarah Palin's latest book is. Big stacks of those left. By the end, they were probably offering those free with any purchase.<br /><br />Ah, Borders, I will miss you.<br /><br />Powell's House of Books in Portland, Oregon -- don't ever get bought or franchised. Look at what happened to your Michigan cousin. Seriously. Don't do it.Harvey Jerkwaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07118848012122050416noreply@blogger.com