Like most folks in the book world, we’ve been closely following the news of the Borders liquidation this week. BookPeople CEO Steve Bercu responded to the elimination of this once behemoth bookseller in a Publisher’s Weekly article today:
“My personal feeling is, I’m sorry to see a showroom for books go away,” says Steve Bercu, CEO of BookPeople in Austin, Tex. “I really believe that there’s no way to replicate a physical showroom for books with anything online.”
All week our hearts and thoughts are have been with the 11,000 booksellers who are now out of jobs, our friends at the publishing houses who will be affected, and the readers who have lost one more outlet to discover books in this country. Remember when you’re hitting those liquidation sales at the Borders in your town next month to be extra kind to that bookseller ringing up that great deal you just scored. It’s hardly a great deal for them.
BookPeople 