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July 26, 2011 Portlandbiz

Booksellers assess their post-Borders status

Photo/Rebecca Goldfine Donna Williams, owner of The Book Review in Falmouth, says big-box stores drove many small bookstores out of business

As the four Borders stores in Maine began liquidating their inventory last week -- and information surfaced late today about Bull Moose's interest in bidding on leases for the bankrupt booksellers' stores -- small, independent booksellers here were taking it all in stride.

That is, the ones who are still left in the rapidly changing and tenuous sector of printed books. The closing of Borders has given local booksellers a bit of righteous vindication even while they acknowledge its tragic side.

"I have to say my first reaction is sympathy for the 10,000 or so people who will be out of work," says Donna Williams, owner of The Book Review in Falmouth. She's been in business 32 years. "We're in an odd position about feeling badly about that, and on the other hand, many of my compatriots have gone out of business over the last 10 or 15 years in large part, initially, because of the expansion of the big-box store retailers."

Chris Bowe, co-owner of Longfellow Books in Portland, points out that the shuttering of Borders has left a dearth of bookstores in its wake. "A thing that pisses me off about Borders is they went into communities they had no business being in and opened giant bookstores, putting independent stores out of business, and those communities are left without a bookstore now," he says.

Those still selling bound books here have done so through hard work, savvy business decisions, loyal customers and a bit of luck (they weren't across the street from any incoming Borders or Barnes and Noble). For the most part, they say their businesses won't be strongly impacted by the dramatic collapse of Borders, once the second-largest bookstore chain in the U.S., with 10,700 employees and 399 stores. They have other things to worry about, like e-books and a generation of younger readers accustomed to buying books online.

But Bull Moose, a Portland-based entertainment chain that last year expanded its traditional music and video offerings with books in its Scarborough and Bangor stores, says business has been great. According to a release from the company, book sales increased by double digits, year over year, prompting the interest in leasing Borders space.

"The physical book is far from dead," says Bull Moose owner Brett Wickard in the release. "People just want to buy them for a price as low as they can find online. So, by bidding on some of Borders' leases, we look to bring our 35% off books price model to larger locations to reach even more people."  

Williams say while it's possible that some of Portland's north side residents could discover her Falmouth store, she doesn't expect a jump in sales. "They might do more of their shopping here," she muses, especially around holidays. "But I would assume that a fair number of Borders customers might go online to do their shopping."

Gary Lawless, co-owner of Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick, says that he expects to "get some kind of increase in business because we have a lot of the regional and local stuff." Like Williams, he's been open 32 years. But he adds, "People are used to getting a discount at Borders that we can't offer them. Those customers might disappear and go to Amazon, or buy a Kindle or iPad."

Lawless then indulges, however, in a bit of idealistic projection that the demise of Borders could usher in the return of independent booksellers. "Maybe there will be a little resurgence of nice artisanal bookstores," he says.

But Williams is not so optimistic. "We take one step forward and two steps back," she says. "Maybe right now we'll see a bump from Borders, but I was beginning to see the impact of e-book sales on us."

Lawless, who points out that the newspaper and magazine store up the street from him just went out of business, admits it's a struggle to keep people in bookstores when accessing reading material online is so easy. "There's a whole generation of folks not used to going into bookstores," he says.

Lawless's strategy so far has been to sell regional and local books that appeal to tourists and summer residents. "We identified niches, like regional stuff that [Borders] wasn't interested in," he says.

"They wanted something that would sell in every one of their stores."

Bowe says he thinks Longfellow is still open after a decade because of the local role the store plays. "We're really part of the community here," he says. "We hold many author events. We pay attention to and support our local writers."

He also thinks brick-and-mortar bookstores will survive the e-book phenomenon. "The whole digital age thing can be overblown. The vast majority of books are still read by hand," Bowe says. "For all of us, books are part of us. First you have them read to you and then you start chewing on them."

Williams says her survival has depended on committed patrons. "We do have a core group of customers who have remained loyal to us over the years," she says. "It is important to them that there be a bookstore in their community."

For Williams, the closing of Borders has triggered an impulse to party, but not to celebrate the end Borders, which, despite its history of putting smaller bookstores out of business, upheld what seems to be a disappearing tradition - browsing shelves of books for your next read. Rather, she wants to celebrate three decades of being in such a harrowing business.

"We're going to have a survival party," Williams says.

 

Local publisher feels Borders pinch

The bankruptcy and closing of Borders in Maine won't just affect bookstores and readers, but also a local publisher. Dean Lunt, who started Islandport Press in Yarmouth about 11 years ago, says Borders was one of his top customers. Islandport Press specializes in fiction and nonfiction about Maine and northern New England and has a staff of six.

Although he's sorry to lose the five-figure amount that Borders owed him from sales going back to December, Lunt says he's more worried about the future. "They've carried our whole line [of titles], at least one copy of every book that we published," he says.

To survive this blow, Lunt's company will try to increase its market reach. "We will have to move aggressively," he says, expanding geographically and into different venues, such as gift shops and warehouse chain stores.

Since last year, Islandport Press has been distributing some of its books in Canada and will try to sell more books nationally, Lunt says, taking advantage of whatever hunger there is out there for books about New England.

He does not anticipate having to cut staff. "Borders will hurt, but I won't have to lay off anyone or have any drastic reactions."

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