farewell

The Borders Goodbye Email Is Like Watching Old Yeller in Slow Motion

Brian Barrett — Just when the snarkbot in me wanted to giggle at Borders like a great big jerk, they go and send this genuinely heartfelt farewell message. In summary: they got their butts kicked, and they're sorry. So am I.

Who pulled the trigger? Borders tells it straight up:

The fact is that Borders has been facing headwinds for for quite some time, including a rapidly changing book industry, the eReaders revolution, and a turbulent economy. We put up a great fight, but regrettably, in the end, we weren't able to overcome these external forces.

The extent to which a partnership with Kobo constitutes a "great fight" is debatable, but that's a moot point. Borders was a store that sold books, and they did it well for 40 years. But progress is progress, and they couldn't tack fast enough to keep up with the winds. Plain and and simple, and kind of devastating.

You can help put Borders out of its misery starting today, when the Great Book Liquidation kicks off with a whimper. While you're there, pour one out for your teenage weekends killing time at the mall, for the part of you that cleaves to the 90s like a joey does its pouch.

Seriously, do. It's not like they care about the carpets any more. [Thanks, Mark!]

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