Pretty much all college kids remember ‘the good old days’ from when we were kids. We all remember what it was like to go bike riding around the neighborhoods, buy overpriced Popsicles from ice cream trucks, play soccer at the local park and many other things besides. One of those would undoubtedly be spending afternoons in a bookstore or renting a movie from a rental store.
I’ve been noticing a lot of the stores around the Ypsi-Arbor area that have been going out of business, and it makes me sad every time I see another ‘Closing Soon’ sign or a boarded up store. These are places from our childhoods, places that have memories for us.
One such store is Borders. What now has an international presence used to be an Ann Arbor local bookstore opened by two brothers in the early ’70s. Borders recently filed for bankruptcy protection, in hopes a second chance will allow the company to reorganize, as well as reduce its debts and high costs.
Though the Liberty Street and Lohr Road branches will remain open, the Arborland branch will be closed, in an attempt to “save the rest of the body” by “hack[ing] off a limb,” as University of Michigan bankruptcy professor John Pottow said.
As AnnArbor.com reports, Borders has made several mistakes in the past decade, one of which was they did not have a strong presence online or have a strong investment in technology in general. While Borders did have some online presence, Amazon managed its sales for eight years, from 2001 to 2009. Borders also came out with e-books, though they didn’t have nearly as much success as others with the same idea, such as the Apple’s iPad and Amazon’s Kindle.
Growing up in the age of technology has been amazing. The world has seen remarkable innovations and inventions that keep evolving and getting more and more high-tech. As with many Ann Arborites, I’ve spent a fair amount of time playing with the new products on display at Briarwood’s Apple store. I am all for coming out with new technology, but it’s sad to me that something as old and precious as (physical) books are going out the window.
While I definitely love and can attest to the helpfulness of having books, movies and other resources online, I still appreciate a physical copy of the book, and I hate to see bookstores become a thing of the past. We’re going to miss the days where we could spend an afternoon browsing though a wide selection of materials. Technology definitely has positive aspects, but I think a lot of us forget what we’re missing when we are all tied up with the nifty technology of the day.
When was the last time you spent a couple of hours reading at a bookstore? Browsed through CDs at a record store? Enjoy the cool new gadgets, but take it with a grain of salt. Remember to do other things you enjoy, that unfortunately, may not be around for much longer.
