On the Passing of Borders…and the Physical Book
It’s physical. The pain of the vulture-like dismemberment of Borders. Books—the flesh, meat, and bones of the once high-flying chain—discounted to be picked over by consumers thirsty for the spoils of liquidation.
The pain is as physical as a book once was. E-readers have electrified the retailing of reading. I work for Barnes & Noble, proud parent of the Nook Classic, (3G & Wi-Fi), Nook Color, and latest Nook Simple Touch. I once worked for Borders, for over five years. And well before Borders, I worked for the venerable B. Dalton, a shoebox of a bookstore in a single-level West County Mall. In twenty years of working at bookstores on-and-off, much has remained the same–diet books and romance novels were all the rage twenty years ago, and still are, except for the fact that Americans have gotten much heavier and romance has gotten much darker.
But much is changing now. B&N is the last man standing. And according to a recent Wall Street Journal article I read, they aren’t in such great shape themselves, as they now find themselves in direct competition with Amazon.
I believe, however, that online retailing simply cannot replace a brick-and-mortar store. And here’s why. Below follows a small sampling of customers I have gotten to know—both at Borders and Barnes & Noble– over the past several years. This is the kind of interaction—real, physical, interaction–we will all lose if bookstores disappear:
1. An elderly World War II vet whose wife had recently died, and who always came into Borders to buy DVD’s of classic films to keep him company. He was delighted I hailed from India, and always waxed nostalgic over Calcutta’s Chowringee Road.
2. A woman who lost her daughter in TWA Flight 800 in 1996. (The St. Louis-Paris flight crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in July 1996). Her tragedy came up in conversation by chance, nearly bringing me to tears.
3. A customer who marveled at the beauty of the handwriting of Civil War soldiers. He’d just heard the news that the teaching of cursive handwriting is gradually disappearing in the US, and then had seen a documentary on the Civil War. Our tweets can’t compare, he said, to the gorgeous penmanship and elegant reflection of these uneducated soldiers.
4. An absent-minded professor from Washington University, who commented when I suggested a book of which he’d never heard (From Eternity to Here, by the physicist Sean Carroll), “This is why we still need bookstores!”
5. A 13-year old boy from Saudi Arabia, who has one of the sweetest smiles I’ve seen in my life. He translated for his veiled mother enthusiastically while looking for a book and magic kit.
6. Vince Bommarito—owner of the prestigious five-star restaurant Tony’s in downtown St. Louis— who, upon hearing I’d never been to his elegant establishment, said, “When you make a reservation, tell them you’re a friend of Vince’s.”
7. I’ve met more than just a handful of local celebrities—from Ambassador George Herbert Walker to a most gracious Kay Quinn, an anchor of KSDK, whom I recognized by her voice. Tony La Russa—manager of the St. Louis Cardinals– came in just a couple of weeks ago. And Kim Tucci, owner of the Pasta House, gave me a $10 gift card when I just happened to mention how long it had been since I’d eaten there.
These episodes just scratch the surface. Many people tend to open up at bookstores, simply because they slow down; it’s a place to let go, to let it all be. And if you can have coffee while doing so, all the better. So until there’s an app to sip coffee straight from your smartphone, let’s hope the physical bookstore—whether B&N or a resurgence of mom-and-pops—will never disappear.
