@hawaiiboy My wife and I miss Borders, too.
When I was in business school, one of my professors compared Borders to Barnes & Noble and declared that, because Borders was so fun to visit and B&N was so drab and stodgy by comparison, and B&N would surely go out of business, and Borders would reign supreme as the biggest big box bookstore/record store/coffee shop. Of course, Borders disappeared only a few years later. I guess my prof didn’t look at the financials. 😅
@JohnPhilpin That would also be cool! I know we need libraries, but I think we also need physical bookstores. It used to be my favorite place to go. I didn’t always buy something, but often I did. Now, if they had a membership, and you could go there, get a book, and bring your laptop and have a place to sit with your book and laptop, and maybe a cup of coffee. WiFi is a must, of course.
@hawaiiboy I have a lot of fond memories of the Borders I used to go to, too. It was so spacious with lots of little reading nooks, so different from the few (crowded!) bookstores I come across today. I do agree with @JohnPhilpin and @odd that libraries have the potential to offer the same vibe – my university library felt similarly cozy, and the public library in the suburb I grew up in was rebuilt not so much for coziness, but did provide a lot of seating and social spaces. It'd be great to have some of that Borders magic recaptured 😊
@jayeless totally agree. When I was at the university of Hawaii many years ago, the Sinclair Library allowed snacks and coffee, etc on certain floors. That was nice… and never abused 😉
@hawaiiboy Sinclair was great for overnight cram sessions. They still did midnight pancakes and coffee a couple years ago.
