Wednesday, September 28, 2011

ALL must go!

Looks like Borders was really serious in clearing out EVERYTHING, including furniture and baskets, from its store.


From: The Straits Times, 27/9/2011
By Jennani Durai


BOOKS, shelves and plastic baskets - everything was for sale at Borders' last remaining outlet in Parkway Parade, which put up the shutters for the final time last night.


Hundreds of shoppers made a mad dash for the bookshop chain's remaining merchandise in its final hours of operation, before it closed at 9pm.


Shelves, foot stools, cabinets and even the computers at the cashiers' counters were available for purchase.


The beleaguered chain closed its main Singapore outlet, in Wheelock Place, on Aug 16.


The Borders Group in the United States declared bankruptcy in February. And last Wednesday, the US company terminated the right of Borders Singapore to use the Borders brand name, and gave it 90 days to cease all activities. The bookshop's lease on the Parkway Parade store expires at the end of next month.


The branch, which opened in 2007, had been holding a sale since last Thursday, but slashed prices further on the final day. While the sale had started at 70 per cent off remaining items, staff announced at 8pm yesterday that all store merchandise - excluding furniture - would go for just $1 in the last hour.


Even the bookshop's plastic baskets - bearing its name in its iconic font - were sold off for a dollar each. Housewife Tanti Lestari and her friend Riana Ferdianti bought five each.


'We want to keep them as souvenirs because we love Borders and come here a lot,' said Ms Lestari, 36.


Many of the bookshelves had been emptied out by last night, and others were dotted haphazardly with a jumble of books of different genres.


Several shoppers left empty handed or with just a few items, deciding that only the dregs of the store's collection remained.


'There's nothing much left, but I wanted to come because it was the last day. I'm sad to see it go,' said Mr Adam Tun-Aung, 29, a writer.


Melancholy music - including songs such as Sarah Brightman's Time To Say Goodbye - was played throughout the shop during its last few hours.


Despite this, staff maintained an upbeat mood, repeatedly making announcements to thank customers for their patronage and remind them to take good care of their books.


Staff stopped allowing customers to enter at around 8.50pm, so they could begin to empty the shop in time for its final closure.


As it emptied out, Borders staff formed a line near the entrance and clapped and cheered as the final customer left with his purchases.


Several shoppers lingered to take pictures, and a few children were spotted touching the walls before they left and yelling 'Bye, Borders!'


Staff from rival bookshop chain Harris and its parent company Popular Holdings also dropped by to lend their support.


Ms Michelle Yeung, 26, who used to work for Popular Holdings, said the booksellers' fraternity was tight-knit.


'Behind the scenes, we are all friends and there is no real rivalry,' she said.


'Though we used to be competitors, it's still sad that they are closing.'

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With $1 going for each book, they might as well give them out for free haha. This must be a heaven for 'garang gunis'. You can just rush in during the final hour, grab the deals, and then resell the books for a profit. But those books that were left over till the last hour probably consisted more of 'junk' ones, like what you often see in second-hand book sales. Free also no one take lol.

Idea: If you have a friend who likes reading books, you can give him/her one whole basket of books for a budget of $20 only. You can just buy off the Borders basket too, and probably wrap the package with some transparent plastic sheet, and make it look like a hamper hehe.

Although I don't visit Borders often, I had some memories of it many years ago, during my primary school days. It was the only 'Big Bookstore' in Singapore before Kinokuniya opened. (Popular those kind not counted) I remember it was pretty cosy, at least for the kids' section. There were a lot of people browsing and playing around with the books. It felt like a library, except that the books have a price tag to it.

When Kinokuniya opened, I began to visit there more, as it has more Japanese-related books. There were rumours that 'Borders staff are not allowed to speak Mandarin, or other languages, except English even among themselves', which made me feel a little disgusted. Anyway Borders was forgotten by me since I ditched the habit of reading books. I just hope Kinokuniya won't close in SG.

Back to the closing sale, I was surprised to know even furniture like shelves and computers were on sale, but I was most amused by the two words in this sentence "all store merchandise - excluding furniture - would go for just $1".

Just imagine if even furniture were sold for 1 buck...a bunch of customers shifting all the shelves, stools, computers out of the store. That would be an ultimate clearout haha. Maybe carpets, lamps, aircon, etc can be put on sale too lol.

Hope their staff won't be 'sold' as cheaply as their stuff.

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