"you've got mail"

[Gregadd]

In that movie with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan the Mega book store slays Megs' mom and pop operation.

In my area Borders Books has all but evaporated. Another big box store One in a Million just bit the dust.
I'll miss them. I used to go for coffee and the free wi-fi.
I think computers will continue to have dramatic effects

It's killing the USPS and recorded media of all kinds. I go to the library only for the ambiance. Banks are getting killed.

I can only hope we can get on board with clean energy and solar panels.

 

[Whatmore]

Borders is in liquidation "Down Under" and to be honest I'm not really sorry. To me they were the "Mega" book store - I'm not sure if you are saying that as well?
I suspect the only bookstores that will survive will be the small boutique stores that think about what they stock and offer good advice.

Also, if you went for the coffee and free wi-fi but didn't buy any books, you probably contributed to their demise

 

[Gregadd]

I bought CDs.

 

[RBFC]

I would occasionally go to Borders to find a CD, but their prices were mostly 1.5 - 2 times as high as Amazon. Since I'm not a coffee drinker, I just can't see that level of profit balanced by the ambiance.

Lee

 

[audioguy]

Amazon killed Borders; Netflix/Redbox killed Blockbuster, but Blockbuster gave them the loaded gun. It's called join the parade or get run over by the elephants. I don't think the internet killed either of these companies -- their inability to think outside the box killed them. Blockbuster got killed by their own arrogance and because they were the giant for so long. And their inability to quickly respond (or come up with their version of RedBox before RedBox did) did them in.

Starbucks turned a $0.25 cup of coffee into a $5.00 cup of coffee. Brilliant thinking. Now they are a place to have breakfast, lunch, business meetings, surf the web, meet eHarmony dates, sell music, (and occasionally books). I love their business model. They have great thinkers in that company.

I could go on with other companies as well. Apple almost went toes up but has become a huge success because they finally figured out they were not in the computer business.

 

[Whatmore]

Starbucks certainly thinks outside the box...
"let's make this awful hot black liquid, add some badly frothed milk to it and see if we can get away with calling it coffee"

 

[FrantzM]

Starbucks certainly thinks outside the box...
"let's make this awful hot black liquid, add some badly frothed milk to it and see if we can get away with calling it coffee"

Not a coffee drinker .. Starbucks is a lot more than that though .. Thei coffee blend and mixes are quite interesting ... COuld be a template to transform the mundane and trivial in the readily available yet desirable... Mac Donald, Dunkin all make coffee none of them are Starbucks

 

[Whatmore]

Not a coffee drinker .. Starbucks is a lot more than that though .. Thei coffee blend and mixes are quite interesting ... COuld be a template to transform the mundane and trivial in the readily available yet desirable... Mac Donald, Dunkin all make coffee none of them are Starbucks

Maccas and Dunkin make coffee? You're killing me....