bye bye bookstores

This was in our Wellington paper this morning

Trans Tasman administration

Borders and Whitcoulls in both Australia and New Zealand were placed in administration yesterday by Australian parent company REDgroup Retail, which manages operations in both countries.

REDgroup’s New Zealand managing director Peter Kalan is said to be in meetings this morning with his Australian counterparts.

The administration is thought to have been triggered by tough retailing conditions in the publishing sector, where online bookstores are becoming a more popular option for customers because they are able to undercut their bricks and mortar equivalent.

Both Whitcoulls and Borders businesses are characterised by their large-store formats with high overheads for staffing, rent and utilities.

Yes I’ve complained about books here being steeply over priced ($35-$40) and the last new book I bought was Keary’s latest in the Fallen Angels series, Forsaken – which by the way cost me a total of $20, even if it took a month to arrive ;p

But I still love Borders!! It’s where I love to go at lunch time to write. I lug my rather weighty ancient Toshiba laptop in with me, order a cup of tea at their café and enjoy watching people as I ponder through lines. I really hope they manage to figure something out (save Borders! It has a café & comfy leather seats!) cause I’ll miss my favourite reading n writing spot!

Take care all!

Nic

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