Hilo Borders? - Big Island - Hawaii (HI) -The Island of Hawaii - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

Vaedrem · 08-29-2010, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Are there any in Kona other than the used book store over behind the healthfood store in the industrial area?

Besides that one, there is another bookstore down in Mango Court in Kainaliu, which is quite nice, though not as big as borders. Otherwise, TBH I actually don't know about Hilo, I just know there are these 3 in Kona and thought there must be something else over there. Either Kona or Hilo is the same travel time from where we are.

hotzcatz · 08-30-2010, 12:16 AM

Well, it depends on which way we go around the island. Going the Waimea way, it's only 165 miles round trip, but going through Hilo along the way it's 270 miles round trip. That's just directly to the book store and back again, that doesn't include meandering around anywhere else along the way. Generally, when ever we go to Kailua Kona (or anywhere in the Kona district, actually) we also stop in at Costco. From Pahoa it is 204 miles round trip if you go across Saddle Road and 250 miles round trip if you go around Southpoint.

So, that's about four hours of driving time for a trip to Kailua-Kona not to mention the price of gas. Well, lets actually mention the price of gas. A car which gets 20 mpg would use about ten gallons of gas and gas is around $3.50 a gallon - more or less. So a trip to Kona costs $35 just in fuel to get there and back. Hmm, I wonder if we can get to the bookstore on the bus. I'm sure it would take all day, but it would save the gas money.

fahsky · 08-30-2010, 03:02 AM

I heard from a friend that heard from a person that worked at the Borders, that 1) the lease expired, 2) the store didn't produce anywhere close to profitability for almost the entire past year, & (semi-related to 2) 3) they have A LOT of problems with shoplifting. Not surprised at all by that. Every time I went by there, which is about twice a week, what do I see? A lot of questionable looking people hanging around outside.

Anyway, I'm bummed about them closing as well. I agree that taking your kids to the bookstore is a wonderful way to foster a love of books, & knowledge in general. Thankfully, we still have our libraries. But, Borders was a (mostly) clean, bright (although expensive) bookstore, & I'll miss it - but not as much as when Walden's Bookstore closed in Prince Kuhio Mall.

Badatta2de · 08-30-2010, 02:17 PM

Im fairly sure the small used store mentioned in the industrial area is closed. I pass it on my way to cost u less and have never seen it open. I just find it sad. Thinking the lease expiring might be accurate as I think thats why the health food store moved as well. At least that got replaced by another health food store though.
As far as "questionable" young persons, I think they were there a lot for the same reason as I was, free wi-fi

Hotzcatz, last time I checked the bus schedule, you could take it to or from Kona, once a day, same time. Meaning, yeah you could do it but youd have to have a place to spend the night. I do the costco thing too when I HAVE to go to Kona. Can you imagine trying to wrangle all your costco loot plus a couple bags of books on the bus? LOL!

hotzcatz · 08-31-2010, 11:17 AM

Ah, that's true! Wrangling loot on a bus isn't something I'd taken into consideration. The car does seem to fill up each time we go to town and it's especially full from a Kailua-Kona trip. I think I could use the bus to get to Hilo town for the farmer's market, but that's still usually three to five bags of vegetables to bring back and then carry home from the bus stop area.

Without Walden's in Prince Kuhio Mall I hardly go into the mall anymore. For me, that was the main destination in the mall. Maybe a new bookshop can be in the mall again? Wasn't it Borders showing up which put Walden out of business? And then Borders was too big and in too expensive of a place and they couldn't make a go of it so they are gone and no more "big" bookstores at all. This scenario is one of my dislikes of big box stores.

Jonah K · 08-31-2010, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

The car does seem to fill up each time we go to town and it's especially full from a Kailua-Kona trip. I think I could use the bus to get to Hilo town for the farmer's market, but that's still usually three to five bags of vegetables to bring back and then carry home from the bus stop area.

In my neighborhood, we organized a "Costco hui" that does a monthly "Costco run" to Kona. Someone with a van or truck collects money and shopping lists from the hui members and does their shopping. Some of the hui members haven't had to go to Costco in over a year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Without Walden's in Prince Kuhio Mall I hardly go into the mall anymore. For me, that was the main destination in the mall. Maybe a new bookshop can be in the mall again? Wasn't it Borders showing up which put Walden out of business? And then Borders was too big and in too expensive of a place and they couldn't make a go of it so they are gone and no more "big" bookstores at all. This scenario is one of my dislikes of big box stores.

The big bookstore "business model" is probably no longer feasible for Hilo. Things like e-books and Amazon.com have made it difficult for a "bookstore/coffeehouse/free wi-fi/hangout" type of place to turn a decent profit.

hotzcatz · 09-01-2010, 06:37 PM

Yeah, there's about three households in our neighborhood that contact each other before going into town. Either we catch rides with each other or pick up stuff for the folks who aren't going. Getting to and from town not only takes all day but takes about $15 worth of gas these days. At least in my farm van, my neighbor's little car does much better.

Well, with no more Borders, we will just have to go hang out at the library more often. We do have some nice libraries at least.

Idunn · 09-03-2010, 01:29 PM

"Borders has lost money for the past four years as customers read more on digital readers and buy books over the Web, forcing the chain to close and sell stores."
- Bloomberg

Borders to Sell Build-A-Bear Items as Readers Switch to E-Books - Bloomberg

PonderingDon · 09-07-2010, 07:24 PM

Well, I think several people have hit the biggest issue square on; Borders is just in rough shape.

The Borders around Austin have consistently been scaling back their inventory for at least a year now. Lots more 'open space' in the stores, more space between aisles, and no more movies, games & music in at least two I've been in. New book releases are in smaller quantities and not restocked quickly.

(Yes, I have a bad book habit, and I worked in bookstores for years.

)

HonuMan · 09-08-2010, 01:31 PM

I just got back from a trip to Hilo and was sad to learn that Borders had closed, because I always liked to make a stop there and see what Hawaii-related books they had that I can't find here in Portland. Someone directed me to Basically Books, which has more Hawaii-related books than I knew existed. However, it's not much use for locals who want to browse a full-featured bookstore. It did make me realize how few books I buy at Borders and other bookstores these days, though. I'll stop by and browse when I need to kill some time, or when I want to buy a specific book, and maybe I'll pick up a magazine, too. Much of the stuff I used to buy in printed form, I now buy or read for free on the Internet. I used to spend hundreds of dollars annually on remaindered books at Borders, and that's part of the problem, as well: all of my bookcases are full, and I don't have any more wall space for for more bookcases. So I guess I'm part of the economic problem.