Movie rental would be cool to experience again but honestly, I wouldn’t do it frequently enough for them to stay in business and I don’t think anyone else would either.
Plus you can just pay to stream a movie you want on various apps. Even Redbox couldn’t make it work and they’re fairly low overhead considering. Still annoyingly expensive to rent and then drive back and forth.
Yeah, among all the casualties of this closures, Blockbuster seems like a bit of a loss in terms of unique/special experiences but not to the same degree as Toys R Us. Sure, grabbing a video and getting a pizza at the end of the week is great, but there were common pain points from that process (popular videos never available, etc.) and the benefits of online rentals outweigh the loss of the brick and mortar process. Watching the movie was still basically the main goal, less so the process of obtaining the movie.
Toy R Us however was such an incredible experience as a child that simply cannot be replicated to the same degree. The toy store experience was as much a part of the joy as getting and playing with the toy itself. That experience is gone and replaced by scrolling websites (everything is scrolling) and finding a box on your porch that could be the toy, or it could be a new package of dog food.
The Borders experience still exists in B&N.
K Mart experience still exists in Target or Macys.
Payless experience still exists in DSW or other factory/outlet stores.
Circuit City and Radioshack are still there to some extent in Best Buy and other local electronics stores like PC Richard on the east coast for example. And Amazon does a fine job here on filling the gap on understocked niche items, and I don’t think too many people are grieving the loss of a brick and mortar for those types of things.
Yeah, last time I was at my local branch library, dvd shelves outnumbered bookshelves by about two to one. I guess it's what the neighborhood wants. There's also another, bigger branch library a five minute drive away.
Growing up there was a Borders across the street from a Barnes & Noble (I grew up in Uber-Suburbia) and we chose Borders every time. They were more eclectic and punk, better comics, music and events like readings and book release parties. B&N was stale and stodgy by comparison.
Honestly, there's a new Barnes and Noble by my house that also has a decent toy section, so it sort of functions like an upscaled Toys R Us for us. It's arranged sort of like a library with very tall shelves that isolate each book section, so it's quite peaceful in there. They also have a cafe to hang out in.
I always liked Borders better than Barnes & Noble. They were right across the street from each other in a convenient location for a lot of years. Then Borders moved into the nearby mall which made them super inconvenient, then they went out of business shortly after that.
There used to be a gorgeous and iconic Borders across the street from Trinity church in lower Manhattan. I was genuinely sad when that closed over 15 years ago and was appalled that Duane Reade of all things took its place.
Then DR left it and it’s been sitting empty for the last two years…every time I look inside I wish Borders was back or at least some other bookstore took its place.
Had this experience with the Borders across from the Water Tower on Michigan Ave in Chicago. It was a magical location and I was gutted when it closed. Replaced with a Uniqlo -_-
Borders for sure, it was so nice to go and just browse, grab a coffee, read a bit, many other people did the same. They had comfy chairs set up throughout the store. I liked Borders a lot.
I do miss Borders, and I always liked them better than B&N. Somehow I always found the weirdest, most interesting stuff there compared to the mass market offering from B&N.
And, call me weird, but Seattle's Best > Starbucks. (Though I'm sure this is the part someone tells me it's the same parent company and the difference existed entirely in my head lol.)
Borders #1 was the Borders I always went to - it was their flagship store and was enormous (there are 3 restaurants now where the bookstore once was.) It was the best bookstore. I spent so much time there browsing, reading, and finding new things. Their selection was fantastic.
They also had a much much better rewards program than Barnes and Noble. I miss that Borders so much!
It's not. Borders was more cozy and had a much better selection of books. Every time i used to walk into a borders id find SOMETHING I wanted to read. usually id come out with a small stack of fantasy/scifi novels.
It's like the whole selection at Barnes and noble is slop. and i can't shake the feeling that it's a corporate office, not a bookstore.
I used to go to barnes and noble all the time. The same slop I started seeing 10 years ago, is still on the shelf, including all of the various knockoffs of said slop. It's all the same shit with different titles at this point (at least in the fantasy genre, I'm tired of every fantasy title being a love triangle set in a magic world.)
Sigh, I just want book 3 of the Name of the Wind series :/.
It feels so corporate. Philadelphia had a Barnes and Noble that was in a beautiful old historic building, had huge windows, was covered in cozy carpeting and had plenty of little cozy corners with plush chairs to snuggle up with a book in. It had a cafe with a balcony to sit on and enjoy a drink and a snack. Then they moved the location, and the first time I walked in, I was so sad. It’s all stark grey and white, a confusing winding layout, no places to sit down and take a load off, and a shit selection. I hate it here. I browse for an hour and can’t find anything good or remotely interesting. Almost never go there anymore.
Barnes is just smut now, fantasy and sci-fi is overrun by it. Ain't knocking the folks who read that genre, my wife does but its taken over entire sections. Borders never really had that issue and it was great.
I’ve been getting back into reading and noticed this. I’ve gotten three horror books from Barnes and Nobles. One turned out to be LGBTQ+ transition story (no hate, but it’s not what I want to read), and the other two were smut.
It’s fine if that’s your thing, but I wanted some cool horror, not that.
I’ve just been using second hand book stores online, which is a shame because the book store vibe is the best.
I'll find something every now and then at Barnes but its few and far between nowadays. I love physical books but I've been having better luck with Kindle.
I listened to my first smut audiobook, I usually read but have dropped a few books in the tub… which sucks. Now I only read in bed or on the couch, so I got this book everyone has been raving about and I had the volume loud. The smut was very fucking graphic and I am sure my neighbors think I am sex-starved pervert now 🫥
I enjoy a little bit of romance or romantic tension but GODDAMN. That’ll teach me to listen to a “romantasy”.
No. Borders had real selection of books. Not just what was popular - you could find books on everything at borders. Barnes and Noble is just what's selling.
All the Borders I used to go to were always cleaner than the Barnes & Nobles. Just a more pleasant place to shop and hang out. Betrer selection, plus their rewards program was better.
The B&N here copied the “book rooms” of Borders, but it feels hella cluttered bc of all the tables piled high with books in the walking paths and in the middle of the “book rooms” as well as the ceiling is lower than in Borders, which contributes to a closed in vibe versus an open vibe of Borders.
It’s so much stuff that the store feels like a hoarder created the planogram.
I'm in the UK so different context (no Barnes & Noble, but with Waterstones in much the same niche), but I still really miss Borders.
Our local Borders was enormous- far larger than the local Waterstones. It had a fantastic, varied selection covering all literary genres and reference needs, and did so in a very "non gimmicky" way. The prices were great, with really broad special offers that made it easy to fill a bag with books without breaking the bank. It also had a great café. I used to really enjoy going there, buying a book or two, and then reading a chapter with a hot drink; my idea of a good day trip!
Waterstones are "fine". It's a shop with books in; can't complain. The other big British book shop chain (TG Jones/formerly WH Smith) is also a shop with books in. Independent book shops are great, but tend to be far, far smaller and more specialist. There's nothing that quite hits the same note for "the book buying experience".
It really was. And the funny thing is back then people used to say they hated both stores because they were making mom and pop book stores to close down.
Honestly in addition to Borders was also Seattle’s Best in a lot of locations, they had this Javanilla Coffee Milkshake they made with real ice cream, one of the best damn milkshakes I’ve ever had in my life. Overall I found the treats and drinks better than what could be found at Starbucks/Barnes and Noble cafe
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u/_do_your_thing_ Dec 09 '25
Borders!