Borders

No, that the geographical ones, but my favorite bookstore.

Why? They have a frequent buyer program which does not cost you anything to join. They are good in sending discount coupons, nearly weekly, to members. If you spend $150.00, they will send you a $5 off coupon for your next purchase.

But this is not why I'm blogging.

Ever since I started buying ebooks, I've not step foot into my local Borders. I had to go this time because I knew I could not get the Dark-Hunter Manga as an ebook.

I parked and opened the first door. I saw a discounted dinosaur book which is a great gift for my nephew's upcoming birthday. As I stepped further into the store, past the front where they always do the promo for the new stuff, nothing was the same. They have reconfigured the central shelves layout. Now I have to relearn my local store. It was like visiting an out-of-town Borders. All the categories and stacks got moved around. They are no longer rows and rows of shelves. Borders created a square-like area for these sections -- Young Adults, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Romance, Graphic/Manga. Teens must really be reading now given Harry Potter and Twilight. I've never such a prominent area for Young Adults.

Instead of recommendations in each section, maybe they are still there but I did not notice, they had a wired display like this. If you don't know True Blood based on the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris is the biggest buzz since Twilight. I will admit I tried one of her books. It was not my cup of tea or I was not in the mood for it and never tried again. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big paranormal fan. I've read majority of the books or have them on my TBR that are on that display. Though I don't get what Janet Evanovich Plum series is doing here.

Some square areas had weird end caps. Like J.R. Ward's series was an end cap in the Mystery section. I wondered if they moved her to this section as the hard-core romance community did not like the direction her books were taking -- more urban fantasy than romance. So I check the Mystery shelves for her books. Nope, not there. I went to the Romance section to see if she was still there. I only found one.

I read somewhere that Borders has decided to order less stock from the publishers. This way it's less inventory that would need to be returned to the publisher or gets discounted. I think it's true. I generally help out, unpaid, by restocking when I see the holes in the shelves. I would find the books hidden behind what's displayed. There were none to be found. I think all of J.R. Ward's stock was on the floor. All of Sherrilyn Kenyon's was also front and center. Nor any for Christine Feehan.

What changes have you seen in your local bookstore to whet your appetite to buy more books? Or have you gone almost electronic book, like me, or the audio route -- you know downloading from iTunes?