Today I got disturbing news. And on Facebook, too.
My pal, Bart, posted a story from Pacific Business News that said discount retailer Ross Stores Inc. may be taking over the space where my beloved Barnes & Noble stands in Kahala Mall.
No one has really confirmed it, so there’s still hope. According to the story, the chain bookseller’s lease is up in January 2014, but no one from the mall could confirm or deny whether the Ross rumor was true.
But what is true is this: discount clothes are more valuable than books.
There are 15 Ross stores in Hawaii, 12 on Oahu alone. Barnes & Noble has just three locations.
Nationally, the chain said it was going to close as many as a third of its 689 retail stores in the next decade, down from a peak of 726 in 2008.
It’s actually somewhat heartbreaking to hear about yet another bookstore closing. These are places I’ve loved to spend my weekends, browsing books, sitting in the coffee shops with my laptop, chatting with friends in the magazine aisles.
And now that part of my social life is gone. It’s depressing.
In a blog for the Washington Post, Alexandra Petri said it best:
“I think it is time we staged an intervention. I am saying this on behalf of all your friends: the Publishing Industry, Book-Lovers Everywhere and — well pretty much everyone but Amazon.com. We gathered this weekend and decided it was time we spoke up. We lost Borders. We cannot bear to lose you too.”
Please, Barnes & Noble, don’t go. Where will I spend my Saturday nights?
13 Comments
Cat- When Borders closed- I cried. My son and my husband and I would hang out at the Waikele or Ward Borders and read books and buy a stack every two weeks. My son grew up in Borders and at his public library. He loves books, he’s surrounded by them– and while we don’t buy as many as we used to– we still love going to bookstores. Barnes & Noble is too far for us to jaunt to every other week, but when we go to Ala Moana- we always stop there. And when we visit our Town cousins, we stop at Kahala Mall- just to go to Barnes & Noble. I will be so sad if they close:( I’m with you- my family cannot bear to lose another bookstore. I hope it doesn’t happen. Thanks for writing this. Aloha, Wendie
Bummer. That was a favorite hangout I used while I was waiting for the Ewa bound traffic to die. But Barnes and Nobles is getting killed by online book sales so it makes sense. Also, many stores leave HNL because the landlords have been able to charge a premium for years. Think they are smart to close but sad to see them go… if they go.
Ohhhh Noooooo!
CAT: Is social media to blame for the lack of reading of books in America?
Hey Cat … sad to hear that … although I’m probably a contributer to their demise … the only times I’ve ever been there was to hang out a little … get some free reading while I was waiting … but I have never purchased anything …
… but that’s all I usually see … not much actual purchases … but quite a few people chatting, browsing, or having coffee …
… Barnes & Noble should reinvent themselves … they already can get the people to visit them … but they gotta be more creative in getting the people to actually spend money or support the business somehow …
I only buy my books locally, due to people in my apt. bldg. fraudulently claiming mail packages as theirs. One time when I went into Barnes and Noble for a book and a drink and asked a man to share his table ( 1 man 3 chairs 5 books and no food/drink purchase) his response NO. He left a half hour later with the 5 books still on the table. It is a sad day indeed. Also rayboyjr from previous comments should take his own advice and reinvent himself into being a paying customer!
I too will be very sad if they close. There is nothing like going to a bookstore and being able to browse the aisles for hours and discovering a book that can take you to a new land or meet a character that you can totally relate too.
I will admit though, its hard for me to buy all my books in a bookstore. I have a kindle and tend to buy 50% of what I read on that and the other 50% off what I read in physical book form. Of the actual physical books that I do buy I’d say I purchase 30% of those from store and the other 20% online. Like so many others, I have a tight budget that I need to stick to and when online retailers are offering a better price it is sometimes hard to resist. Take Barnes and Noble for instance; a sales associate was helping me find a book but after a quick search on the computer there were none in store. He gave me a few options but pretty much hinted for me to order it online. He said that if I ordered from Barnes and Noble online it would be cheaper, he made it clear that it will always be cheaper online compared to the store. As he was helping me save a few dollars, he was also contributing to the dwindling amount of bookstores.
Borders hurt because they actually had (especially Ward, but even locations like Windward Mall had unique selections) a decent “Hawaiiana” section.
I’ll be sad to see Barnes & Noble go in Kahala if that’s what’s happening. So many memories from teenage times hanging out at the “fancy” book store, or coming home with bags full of discount books!
[…] -Catherine Toth can’t take another bookstore closing…and neither can we! [The Cat Dish] […]
Cat –
At the end of the day Barnes and Noble is a business.
I think you summed it up perfectly “These are places I’ve loved to spend my weekends, browsing books, sitting in the coffee shops with my laptop, chatting with friends in the magazine aisles.”.
The problem with this is that B&N is there to sell books. I am not taking a swipe at you by any means as I do the same thing and I am actually surprised the big book sellers have lasted this long. With the combination of online sales, ebooks and the general decline of the amount of reading they need to sell a lot of books to keep profitable.
I totally see your point. It’s true — more people were just “hanging out” there and not patronizing. I do shop there. Been a B&N member for awhile. I HOARD books and magazines! It’s shameful! Many B&N closing is a good thing — for my wallet and storage!
Can’t we start a petition? Isn’t there something we could do? *Sigh* Very saddening news, indeed…
This is a big thank you to all the freeloaders at barnes and nobles over the years. Yes you know who you all are. You go to the store, make the magazines all dog eared so that people who actually buy magazines would not throw down $10 for the last wrinkled copy of that european mag which you didnt pay a dime for. Now you dont have a place to freeload off of. You deserve it.