Galleria’s Waldenbooks to close
The Borders Group announced Thursday (Nov. 4) it will close some 200 Waldenbooks stores across the country, including the one in the St. Louis Galleria. The Richmond Heights store is on the company’s list of “anticipated” closures.
According to Publishers Weekly:
The retailer has been steadily closing its mall-based stores since 2001 and will have about 130 mall stores after the downsizing is completed. Stores to be closed fall under the Waldenbooks, Borders Express and Borders Outlet names. Superstores are not part of the downsizing nor is the company’s mall kiosk business and airport stores.
Borders CEO Ron Marshall said that “through this right-sizing, we will reduce the number of stores with operating losses, reduce our overall rent expense and lease-adjusted leverage and generate cash flow through sales and working capital reductions.” The closing will result in the elimination of about 1,500 jobs, the majority of which, Borders said, are part-time positions. A company spokesperson said the stores slated for closing “will be fully stocked for the holidays,” but will begin clearance sales in mid-December that will run into January. She had no comment on the total amount of sales generated by the stores targeted for closure.
The closings are to take place in January.
I’m not really surprised by this. Malls just don’t seem like places where people go to buy books, especially since there are so many big, almost mall sized bookstores all over the place, most of which offer a quiet cozy environment for book shopping.
I’m surprised that it’s stayed open as long as it has since there is a large Borders book store just on the other side of 40 from it.
Glad I bought a Kindle
I used to love the Waldenbooks discount shelves.. You could get good books on various subjects really inexpensive..
The full size Borders do have discount shelves or aisles but the pricing isn’t near as low as it was at the Waldenstores…
Too bad for me… I can’t afford the full retail price on books and besides that, I think their overpriced anyway…
Can you say, “cheapbooks.com? Yet, even with that option, you can’t see the book or peruse the book before you buy which takes a lot of the fun out of bargain book shopping…
Oh well….
Can you say “check out the books you want at Borders and then buy them 50% cheaper on amazon.com?” I can!
Hey, cardinals_99, try the library!
It is too bad that Walden’s is closing at The Galleria…but it is by no means a surprise. Border’s, its parent has a huge store just south of Hwy 40/64. It is a more comfortable atmosphere to peruse and purchase books.
And like many of the posters stated, Retail books are too expensive and can be purchased online a lot cheaper these days… and Of course we have MANY libraries in which we can borrow a book for free.
If all of American commerce goes online, where are Americans going to work? Unemployment is already in the double digits.
Plenty of independently owned and operated book stores in this town would love your business. Most of them are listed on the blog roll to your right. And if you’re averse to paying full price for a book, as so many of you seem to be, head to any of the many great used book stores in this town. If you love books, you should love your local independent book seller and avoid online retailers like the plague they are.
Save with used books. I can usually find recent releases as cheap or cheaper than Amazon.