I know
There was a big Border's in Cardiff and for the past couple of weeks it's been a bargain basement, with everything getting sold off prior to closing this week. Rotten time for all the staff to lose their jobs.

I feel sorry for the staff who've lost jobs, especially so close to Christmas but Borders have been going downhill for ages. I used to go in there and be able to find something I wanted to read but in recent years the books they displayed prominently were the same as in the station, airport and WHSmiths. Anything that wasn't mass-market stuff had to be hunted down on the shelves, which is okay if you know what's available but when it got to the stage of having to browse Amazon to see what was new in my sort of book then buy it in Borders, it was getting silly. I used to have confidence in their staff but they seemed to stop any kind of staff training - one lass asked if she could help me when I was browsing. We discussed what kind of books I like and I said my favourite author was Isabelle Allende so I wanted to find something similar. She kept trying to steer me towards Marian Keyes and other frothy chick-lit authors. What eventually stopped me going in there at all was their policy on access to the customer toilets - I'm afraid I object to having to wait in the sales counter queue for 20 minutes to ask a lad young enough to be my grandson for the 'code of the day' then have him shout across the shop to another assistant 'What's the ladies toilet code? This lady needs it'. We've bought our books at Waterstones or online since that incident.

I feel sorry for the staff who've lost jobs, especially so close to Christmas but Borders have been going downhill for ages. I used to go in there and be able to find something I wanted to read but in recent years the books they displayed prominently were the same as in the station, airport and WHSmiths. Anything that wasn't mass-market stuff had to be hunted down on the shelves, which is okay if you know what's available but when it got to the stage of having to browse Amazon to see what was new in my sort of book then buy it in Borders, it was getting silly. I used to have confidence in their staff but they seemed to stop any kind of staff training - one lass asked if she could help me when I was browsing. We discussed what kind of books I like and I said my favourite author was Isabelle Allende so I wanted to find something similar. She kept trying to steer me towards Marian Keyes and other frothy chick-lit authors. What eventually stopped me going in there at all was their policy on access to the customer toilets - I'm afraid I object to having to wait in the sales counter queue for 20 minutes to ask a lad young enough to be my grandson for the 'code of the day' then have him shout across the shop to another assistant 'What's the ladies toilet code? This lady needs it'. We've bought our books at Waterstones or online since that incident.

System gone loopy - telling me it can't respond and post my reply when it already has done. Grrrrrr!

You're right about the staff, blondiecat - at least the ones in Waterstones actually seem as if they read a book occasionally!
Still a shame for them though.

I am sad at the demise of Borders bookshop but I got some cracking bargains there recently

I still have a £10 book token for Borders!   I wonder if the Glasgow store is closed already.

Oh dear Perhaps one of the other bookstores would honour it

Aww thanks Baz

Aww thanks Baz

If they're selling the fixtures an fittings then I might be tempted to buy the letters B O O K S M U S I C S C A F E from the front.  I could make a new sign which says SUCK IF ACE BOSUM!!

With the big letters too I could have SUCKER OF SCABBIER SODOM!

I used to go to Borders a lot, but their offers never matched those of other stores, they were always pricier....no wonder they couldn't survive

BOOKS MUSIC CAFE = FIASCO BUMS COKE?
SAME FIBS CUCKOO
FOAM CUBE SICKOS

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