Borders Failure Is a Small Part of Bigger Phenomenon

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Today I was on NPR's Morning Edition, offering
my take on the Borders' liquidation.




Click
here to listen.




Many of my colleagues insist Borders' failure had nothing to do with e-books. Yes,
bad management played a big role here. Borders has been a weak player for years, and
it's survival of the fittest out there.




But even Barnes & Noble is scaling back their bricks-and-mortar presence and focusing
on e-books and online sales.



I love what Peter Turner commented on my Facebook post:

Judging from what one hears anecdotally from booksellers,
seems like the biggest factor is the change in customer behavior. People are increasingly
using bricks & mortar stores as a show case and then go buy online, where Amazon
offers the best service. One bookseller told me jokingly that he sold a ton of eBooks.
I asked how so, as he isn't part of the Google Books program. He said, "Oh, folks
come into the store with their Kindle and iPad, browse the tables, download their
eBook, and walk out." B&N has survived all this, but I wouldn't be surprised if
they'll be fewer stores with a smaller foot print in their future.

What do you think? Would you invest your money in a national chain physical
bookstore today? If so, what kind?

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