Thats the whole problem with todays society, they need everything at that second even if costs more. I would wait the extra few days and order it online. That's what I did the other day, I was looking for a new USB driver, you know those small pen drives, well I went into the store and saw it for $22.99 + lets say 8% tax = total would been about $24.75, anyway instead of buying it at that moment I came home and bought it on newegg.com for $18.98 for nearly 25% cheaper... now was it a huge amount of savings, NO it wasn't but I thought if I can buy it online for a $5-6 bucks cheaper why not. A little patience can save you a lot of money in the long run.
I agree for the most part ill buy online for the majority of items but I love to read and when I decide on a book title its usually for a reason. At the same time having it in store allows me to skim through the book to see if its what I want versus online where at best I have other peoples reviews . For example I found a book called inside the innovations of Steve jobs I went to borders skimmed through it and found it had little to do with jobs so I didn't buy it if I went online I would have been out $15. For me book shopping is like furniture shopping unless I know for a fact its what I want is rather go in store and feel it out which for me is worth paying a slight premium
At the same time the money I've saved skimming through books and finding out its not what I want far out weighs the higher price I've paid for the books I've bought in store versus online.
I think it's a bit more complicated than what you've listed above. You forgot to mention the massive overhead costs involved with all of those retail locations...the rent, utilities, payroll, etc, etc...It also probably did not help much that we went thru a massive commercial real estate bubble and bust during the past decade or so when Border's was moving towards bankruptcy. The gradual shift towards online buying habits, in particular those probably under the age of 35, with the free shipping, and in many cases no sales taxes, also put Border's and their bricks and mortar locations behind the eight ball. I'd also venture to guess that buying books, in general, has been trending down as more content became available online. Many people can find all the information they need searching the internet, as opposed to going out to the bookstore and finding it OR going to a library. That's a massive difference from just a decade ago. I'm not at all crazy about the idea of bookstores disappearing. Frankly, it's a bit disconcerting the thought of physical copies of books being replaced by electronic versions and such. I'll probably never get used to the idea or concept.
I'd venture that some of the underperforming locations really were just cafe's that doubled as an upscale public library. Sometimes you could go for hours while sitting in a Border's cafe and not see a single person checkout to buy a book.
What a shame. Borders is my bookstore of choice for so many reasons, and imo beats B&N hands down. (although I wish Borders would either turn their music off, or played classical or bookstore jazz). There has been a trend towards absolute efficiency in everything. I long for a world of like-minded people where the accounting takes people's well being into consideration, not the final number from an accountant. Maybe Borders will find a way to survive... I am telling you that hard core capitalism will lead to the destruction of human beings, as human beings. I fear what we will look like in 200 years as a race if this corporatism is allowed to continue with impunity.
many people skim books in the store before purchasing. some buy the book in the store but many than buy online.
If they have a good sense and move to the eBook market then their name(franchise) and other assets could (MAYBE) pull them through. The eBook market is fast growing with Kindle, Nook and Apple with Google tailing them so it is possible that they are a "johnny come late" and will never make it. Close half their bookstores and cashflow might return...
I think if they could follow a similar business plan to Netflix they could still see growth. That is all assuming though that Netflix will evolve as well, but I think that is the case.