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This blog is dedicated to the topics of Course materials, Innovation, and Technology in Education. it is intended as an information source for the college store industry, or anyone interested in how course materials are changing. Suggestions for discussion topics or news stories are welcome.

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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Demise of Borders Brings New Opportunities

“When there’s a massive transition in an industry, the strong players make it through to the other side,” explains David A. Schick, a retail analyst who covers booksellers for Stifel Nicolaus Equity Research. “What gets caught up in the change are the weaker players.”

This is a quote from Bloomberg Businessweek article from 11/10, “The End of Borders and the Future of Books.”  The story covers the demise of Borders and the rise of small independent bookstores.  These new community minded stores are filling the void left behind by Boders bankruptcy.


In November, 16, 20011 NY Times there is an article, “Novelist Fights the Tide by Opening a Bookstore” that gives several other examples of smaller sleek bookstores popping up in areas where Borders once existed.


Could this be an opportunity for campus stores as well?  Is there room for campus stores to provide unmet need in their communities?  Are stores thinking about whether there is a void left by the demise of Borders in their area and can they fill that void?