Borders store in Hilo is closing

I passed the store today, and saw big "store closing" signs. Of course, I had to go in and check it out. There were still many books I would love to own, all at 30% or more off, as the inventory is cleared out. I managed to acquire a few from my LT wishlist.

First Borders came to town and the many small booksellers were driven out of business. Now the "story" in the store is that amazon is putting them out of business. Tim has lamented the demise of libraries and bookstores quite a bit on LT -- and I certainly will miss this store as a destination. Thank goodness for Basically Books, even though they are more specialized!

Now, that just makes me sad. I own a Kindle and shop Amazon myself, but I always try to find physical books in a physical store first to avoid shipping and waiting. And, I personally love to just go to one just to be surrounded by books of all ages. (Although, I am sorry to ruin the store's ratio if I end up not buying anything)

Sorry to hear about the closing. Iʻve always had the feeling that I a m perhaps marginally related to the closings of many small books stores -- not that there were "many" on Oʻahu to begin with but there were more than now.

But Iʻve never had a feeling that I was putting anyone out of business through Amazon or its competitors, because Iʻve never dealt with any of them.

i am so sad. now the borders in kona is closing too!!! i bought a whole bunch of books on sale yesterday. if anyone wants cheap books, go now. they are putting everything on sale...

The one in Waikele is said to close also. :(

i heard that apparently ALL the borders in the country are closing. i guess borders the company went bankrupt. :( thats so sad cause now i have to drive all the way to hilo to get to a bookstore. unless anyone knows of any bookstores in kona?

There is at least one, Kona Bay Books, in Kona. It has mostly used books, and the prices seem high for used ... but it is local (in the old industrial area, behind Island Naturals health food store).

http://www.librarything.com/venue/54509/Kona-Bay-Books

Also, Kona Stories is a very friendly spot, but it's in South Kona:
http://www.librarything.com/venue/31015/Kona-Stories

As I understand the bankruptcy recovery plan with Borders, they're closing 1/3 of their stores. I believe that the store in Ward Center (Honolulu) and one in Kahului (Maui) will remain open in the state of Hawaii. But this might be old news, and things may be worse than I think.

thanks! i will visit those stores. i wish we had a barnes and noble here....

yeah its sad about borders closing, but in this economy im not suprised.

Driving through South Kona last week, I noticed that Kona Stories was not in its former location. So I checked out their website. They've moved to the Keahou Shopping Center. I updated their info in LT Local.

9> I noticed. I went there and bought the new Mortal Instruments book. Love it so far!