Borders to close on the Mag Mile

As Crain's Chicago reports, Borders Group Inc. has announced it will close its flagship store on the Magnificent Mile, effectively "affecting" 100 employees in the process. This comes a week to the day after the company announced 136 layoffs, largely in its Ann Arbor office, which comprised about 12% of its corporate workforce. And earlier this month, Borders cut 16 executive positions and sought (and gained) an extension on a $42.5 million loan. Borders Group Inc. is even in danger of having its stock delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after selling at less than $1 since last year (as of 3pm today, it's at 0.58). And, with an aggressive returns policy, Borders hasn't exactly ingratiated itself to publishers.

The store won't close until January 2010, which allows some relief for the 100 folks who could lose their jobs. I wonder, though, what effect this has on the literary scene of the city. The Michigan Avenue store, while a big and beautiful chain bookstore, wasn't exactly a cultural mecca. I'd noticed that in the past few months, author events at the store had tapered off, more often occurring at the chain's Oak Park and Lakeview locations. Back around 2000, maybe 2001, I saw David Sedaris read on the Michigan Ave store's second floor. Last month, useless fratboy Tucker Max signed copies of an updated I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. To my mind, the store had stopped contributing to the culture of the city and become little more than a stop-in spot for tourists out on the Mile.

Certainly, my sympathy goes out to any employee who's been laid off, but aside from the strange scar such a big departure leaves on Michigan Avenue, this doesn't strike me as the biggest loss. Bookstores all over are feeling the pinch. In 2007, Women & Children First, one of the only feminist bookstores left in the country, had to essentially beg its customer base to buy books to keep the store afloat. Earlier this year, WCF issued another call, trying to stave off another slide into desperation. WCF hosts four book groups, a night of lesbian literary shenanigans in the Sappho's Salon, and any number of important, provocative author readings every month.

As bookstores lose out to Internet competition, a flagging economy and lagging interest, it's important that they become more than just stores. For a long time, the prescribed way to success for independent bookstores has been to carve out a sales niche, doing something smaller and better than Amazon or Borders could do. But I think it's more about serving the city in a broader way, beyond just what books are sold. This is the sort of thing that important bookstores—like The Book Cellar, 57th Street, Quimby's—have become. They're not just centers of commerce, but centers of culture. And that's something that Borders just hasn't been able to compete with in this economy.