Border's going out of business

Read the email from their CEO today and i find it sad. From what i saw, the company did fight hard to stay in business. Even after the bankruptcy thing they sorta "redesigned" themselves to not just stay afloat but also, to keep up with the modern reading era of ebooks and more online retail. it redesigned it's rewards program and what not. I know Border's has some loyal customers who stayed with the company through it all.

I have to say it's a cutthroat world of business now. It's not just a matter of being able to keep up with the latest trend. it's also about being able to launch, keep up, and invent and reinvent latest trends or else you fall behind. I have to say this depends on advertising and marketing. There were ebook readers before amazon launched the kindle but most people own the kindle now or a nook. I own a kindle myself. Amazon's kindle was expensive at the beginning and i considered it a luxury product for me but once it hit the $189 and $139 range, i was sold. The bad economy hasn't helped. Consumers want to pay less for products. Retailers are left to either cut costs at the expense of profit or make up those lost profits some other way. Heck, nokia was a premier cell phone company and now we're in a world of apple or android. Palms and blackberries are also becoming history. 5 years ago if you'd told me google would be a giant in this phone business, i'd have thought 'ha'. Barnes and noble has managed to keep up with amazon and i think their ebook reader is doing well. In fact they have a $139 black and white version now. They've also moved to more online retail but they still have the stores. I wonder if the starbucks inside these stores contribute to them holding up. I know i wouldn't walk into a stand alone starbucks but with Barnes and noble having that are where one can study, i find myself buying stuff when i sit there. I don't like the Starbucks drink. Even their hot cocoa doesn't taste good. Lately, I've resorted to their cookies and other cheesecake factory deserts.

Point blank, more businesses are going to fail. Sad, but true. Giants who weren't are rising. Only thing i wonder is will we have bigger giants rise up in the future and take down these seemingly unbeatable giants?
Nothing is permanent. My heart goes out Borders - management, staff and all. I feel for those who've lost their jobs in the brick and mortar stores. I'll always remember sitting at their Avenue of the Arts store and reading books. I'll remember the coupons i used. I ordered the nclex 3500 from them. Oh the memories...