Another Painful Goodbye

I posted a good while ago about losing our Blockbuster.  Say goodbye to strolling the aisles and renting a movie.

Today there is another painful goodbye.  To our Borders. 

We have a Borders bookstore very close to our house.  Not that long ago I had signed up for their e-mails and enjoyed their online coupons.  Whenever my kids were invited to a birthday party, I watched for a half-off coupon from Borders, printed it, and bought the birthday kid a book.  My own children, especially Gogurt, loved to go into Borders and shop around.  He loves, loves, loves books so to walk into a bookstore was a kind of heaven to him. 

I received an e-mail from Borders CEO the other day about fighting a good fight but having to close up shop anyway.  That very same day, I started seeing the announcements on the news programs, "Borders to Close Their Doors."   

Life as we know it is ending.  No, I'm not just being dramatic about Borders, or Blockbuster either for that matter.  I'm afraid there will come a time where no business is safe from the online competition.  Blockbuster went belly-up because of their Netflix competition.  Borders went the same way.  Kindles, Amazon, etc., is the way of the future. 

Well, I for one, think this STINKS.  

TO HIGH HEAVEN.  

We are headed to Borders later today to cash in on their 40% Closing Sale and to say goodbye yet again to one of our beloved stores. 

I predict that many years down the road, when people are so stuck in their computers, relying on online stores for every single thing, that someone on the other side of the screen will have this wacky, radical idea.  "What if? What if we took our business to the people, you know face-to-face, set up a storefront, and actually interacted with the customers?"  To which he might get this response, "You know, that's the craziest idea I've ever heard, but it just might work."