3. Borders Wishes Your Children Dead
Borders always seem to be two-story affairs, and that's fine. We actually think it's neat to come down a staircase and see books laid out below us in all directions. Here's what we don't understand, though. Why do they always seem to put the children's section on the second floor?
We have a two-year-old, and frankly, she's faster than we are, at least in short bursts. Time and time again she would dash without warning from flipping through some book about fish to rush headlong towards the stairs wanting to go down for some unknowable toddler reason. Would it have killed you to put the kid's books on the first floor? Sure, she still would've tried to climb the stairs, but she's an American child. She'll quit as soon as she realizes it's hard.
4. Here Are All The Things You Cannot Have
If you needed to find out if Borders had a book, all you had to do was go over to one of their handy computer terminals and type in the information. Nothing could be simpler, right? We've been doing that since middle school at the library.
What bothered us about Borders's system, though, was that it didn't give any sort of priority to what was actually in print or physically in the store. It just told you every edition that has ever been ordered by Borders, regardless of whether getting it is in any way feasible. It would have been nice to type in, say, "Harlan Ellison" and get to choose search criteria like "In Store," "Can Be Ordered," or "No Chance, Buddy."
5. The Death of the Customer Order
Ordering out-of-stock books is where big box stores drop the ball, and will ultimately be why they disappear. Art Attack works in a bookstore-like environment, and let us tell you that we never let anyone leave without finding out what they want, if it can be gotten, and where to get in touch with the customer when we do.
Modern bookstores just tell you to go to the website, and Borders was horrible about this. If I wanted to shop online, I wouldn't be in a freakin' bookstore, would I? Our own profession, and other niche book markets like comic shops, thrive because they keep up with their customers' wants. If someone wants something we don't have, we get it as fast as possible.
We want them to come back, browse around, and feel like our store is the only place they can count on getting what they wants. Yes, even more than the Internet, because here, a real person answers the phone and walks you through the finding and purchasing process. No computer has yet topped that.
All that being said, we're sad to see Borders go. It was our favorite place to shop for new books. Hopefully, other stores will learn from their mistakes. We here at Art Attack wish all their employees as short an unemployed duration as possible.
