Borders

Borders Books, Music, Cafe is the largest bookstore in the city, located downtown in the Davis Commons. They have a Seattle's Best coffee shop with ample studying space, although it's not recommended by many due to the crowded nature and the occasionally enforced time limit on tables.

Of particular note is their large manga section. Their role playing section is woefully out of date, unsorted and appears to be a fairly random selection. Some books appear in Science Fiction/Fantasy despite being pure rulebooks. Also of particular interest is their diminutive philosophy section, which is slowly being eclipsed by the religious and self-help sections. The porn and erotica section is skimpy, with little beyond Playboy, Playgirl, and Penthouse. It has a great selection of art review magazines, but not nearly as many as Newsbeat.

Borders began offering free WiFi from Verizon in October 2009.

Borders shuffles its inventory frequently, throwing out books (sans front covers) at the rate of about 1/2 cubic meter / week, and magazines at about double that rate. This makes the dumpsters behind the store particularly fruitful. The employees are tolerant, although they would prefer that you not pick through the garbage during business hours. (Also, please return the books to the dumpster when you are done browsing through them. Thank you.) Keep in mind that authors and publishers are not paid for books that are thrown out. Most authors (and even most publishers) want them read regardless of how you get them, but if you have the money, supporting the arts means buying a book.

Come and enjoy or participate in the open mic every first Friday of the month.

Local controversy

Because it is owned by Borders Group, Inc., some look down upon it for taking money away from the Davis economy and encroaching upon the several independent booksellers in town; some even voiced their concerns about this as a threat to the local bookstores to the City Council. Although profits from the business go back to the company, sales tax revenues benefit Davis and Yolo County. Since Borders opened, the Avid Reader for Younger Readers, a branch of The Avid Reader, closed and the inventory merged back into the main store's loft.

Owners of the existing independent bookstores reported significant drop in business when Borders opened, which they have not regained. One bookstore closed January 2008. Another bookstore chose to close and move to Woodland before Borders opened, but subsequently closed there in 2008. Borders has been performing poorly nationally and is now (Spring 2008) for sale, and Wall Street is abuzz with rumors of Barnes and Noble purchasing the company, making it an even larger behemoth.

Comments:

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2005-12-06 17:09:41   Borders also has a few angry homeless people, who will yell at you to shut up if you're standing nearby and talking. They hang out there at around 2 in the morning. —IsaacHamlen-Gomez

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2006-08-04 13:56:51   "Giant (and continually expanding) manga section"? It's a rather small and narrow selection, of popular titles, i.e. typical shojo fluff and generic shonen action titles. (Not that there's anything wrong with that, shojo fluff and shonen action can be good.) It isn't continually expanding either. It seems as of late that they aren't really restocking the selections. However, it must be noted that fewer and fewer people browse and purchase the books. This may be partly in response to Borders permatagging the books. People hate buying permatagged books, because it's akin to buying a torn book. —MatthewTom

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2006-08-10 17:26:55   Does anyone know what happened to the guy who used to run the Borders open mic night? I think he was a local guy. Chris something (I think). Is he still doing anything like that in the area? —SimonWheeler

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2006-12-21 20:29:38   regarding putting hard tacks in the manga: I work at Borders, and I actually agree with the comment about it, and have registered this disagreement (and that of customers) with the manager, so he is aware. But, there is a justification for it. Basically, those things take a walk more than almost anything in the store. It's a fairly common occurrence to be looking for a specific volume that the computer says we have but no one can find it anywhere. And with all the casual reading that goes on with the manga the soft tacks simply fall out. So the only real solution to curb the theft of these things is to permatag. That said however, we are more than happy to special order a mint copy of a volume for you. I agree it sucks, but it’s just the reality of it. —AaGg

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2007-01-16 01:04:30   I was saddened to walk into Borders Sunday night after my adventures at Pluto's, only to hear the closing announcement. —GreggAlexander

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2007-02-28 18:49:31   All the new shelves make it very cramped and hard to navigate the space. Ask an employee to find something; the computers don't work for shit. —BriannaBetancourt

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2007-06-04 05:59:33   The black kiosk computers are junk. The ones in the music are good for previewing a CD before you buy it, but don't try to search. Use any of the other computers and you should be fine. Or, you can ask one of the friendly staff! Keep an eye out for the persistently pissed-off manager, though. If he's not trying to flirt with you, he'll treat you like you're bothering him.—Frankenbunny

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2007-06-08 14:24:18   Being a former employee of Borders, I'm happy to respond to any comments or answer any questions that anyone might have. Be it negative or positive comments and/or questions, I'm here to help. Don't worry though. I'm not blind to the faults that the company may or may not have. But unnecessary slander need not apply (unless you really want to, cause really, this is the internet).

I would respond to every comment that has preceded my own but being finals week, I don't intend to expend this much time...however, if you take their word for it as law, then you really should reconsider how the internet sways you so easily (thats not to say any one of these comments is wrong or right in any manner). —SunjeetBaadkar

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2007-06-08 15:05:59   Hey Sunjeet, I have a question. Those magnetic strips you guys stick into books, I've torn the inside of many-a-book (mostly mangas) trying to remove them. Can you guys figure out where to put them so they don't tear when pulled off (back to manga, putting them on the inside cover almost guarantees a torn cover)? When I used to work at Crown Books way back in the day, we had similar strips. Only difference was that they didn't stick to anything, we just pressed them into the book and they wouldn't fall out. —JesseSingh

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2007-06-08 20:35:23   Well Jesse, the reason they use the hard tacks is just that: so they can not be removed easily. Its a sad reality, but the manga section is stolen from at an alarming rate. The manga reading population may be all well and good, but with a large number of people interested, there is a significant number willing to steal. We are forced to use the hard tacks to deter this behavior. The best way to get around this issue is to use the Special Order system (despite the common misconception: there is no extra charge for ordering) and get a fresh, clean, never been read copy. Although you will not be able to read it in store, it allows collectors to purchase a "tackless" copy. The main downside is that you will have to wait a few more days for it to arrive, but in the end everyone goes home happy. —SunjeetBaadkar

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2007-06-08 20:40:02   And on a side note: Borders is a retail store that primarily sells books (not to be confused with a bookstore). Despite the habit most people seem to have, they are not a library. Although they generally tolerate people reading for short times, they don't usually tolerate them reading in the aisles. The manga section was notorious for this when they'd have a dozen+ people huddled in the section (a year ago, it was impossible to walk through that area). Its gotten better since they've started making an issue of it, but now readers are going to all corners of the store to read. They are fine with this and understand. However, the problem that now occurs is readers shoving the books into the shelves when they are done, no matter where in the store they are (though this is true of any place that sells books). Please, if you are done with an item (manga or otherwise), please give it to a bookseller, cashier, or just leave it at the info desk. Heck, leave it on the floor if you'd like...its much better than depriving others from reading it as well. —SunjeetBaadkar

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2007-09-19 15:35:51   I'd like to see more lit-arts events; poetry readings, author signings, etc. —JamesJobe

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2007-10-08 23:18:26   If you go to the Information Desk, you'll find flyers advertising what's going in Borders every month. Open Mic welcomes poets, author events happen at least once or twice a month and there's a band or two playing every month or so. On October 26th, Borders is having a Halloween costume contest for adults and kids. —booklover

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2007-10-28 10:15:21   I came in here to pick up a Sac News & Review because my friend (Substansia Jones) was featured in it last week. ONE GIRL was an utter snatch and simply didn't want to stop talking to her friend long enough to help me. I was not very happy. The young woman at the register, as well as the young man and the manager who eventually told me where I could get a paper were extremely nice and helpful. Had these people not been so nice, I would never have returned to the store. Instead, going there today to pick up a gift.

Keep in mind every store tends to have at least one jerk employee, but overall, this is a nice place. —Casey

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2008-01-18 16:17:23   I personally really enjoy borders. The staff is very friendly and helpful, and we have never had any issues at this store. —DavisMan56

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2008-02-12 05:58:13   I go to Borders about twice a month to pick up a few British car/motorcycle magazines, and I usually buy a book or four that catch my eye, so I end up spending between $50-$150 a visit. After I gather my purchases, my girlfriend and I generally grab things to read and hang out for an hour or two, and it's usually manga for me. I've never had a problem before; the staff have pretty much always been helpful and more than friendly. Last night, though, one of the managers on duty decided to humiliate us by singling me out publicly in the cafe area, starting off with "You KNOW we don't allow you to read MANGA in the store" (imagine the sneer yourself, since I didn't take a picture) and continuing to "I'll take all of those now", as if I was a ten-year old who got caught stealing. She gave me a corporate-line apology after I tried to get a different manager to talk to at the register, so I guess I'll forget my thoughts of flaming righteous boycott, but thinking about it now still makes me want to scream and punch someone. Happy shopping! —EugThinks

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2008-02-12 05:59   To increase your chances of getting hired on at Borders, avoid being too honest on the "personality profiling" section of the application. If you let on that you have leadership potential, your application won't pass the first round. Longtime managers are acutely aware that anyone with genuine leadership ability (or a modicum of assertiveness, anti-authoritarianism, imagination, etc.) won't tolerate the work conditions for long: shelving monotony, oft dreary custodial duties, customer relations tediousness, and rote memory/regurgitation of "corporate culture" slogans ("Would you like to receive our online newsletter?" . . . ) are par for the course. —ZN

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2008-02-20 00:47:11   Why would you suggest people apply for a job at Borders if you think the job is so tedious and awful? I enjoy shopping here. I find the employees friendly, funny and they actually seem to like working there. They're always laughing and smiling, usually with customers. I've seen some of them there for several years now. It may be a corporation with job defined duties like "custodial" and "rote memorizing" but what job doesn't have that? I feel sorry for the employees having to clean up the public restrooms at this store. If I have to walk into the ladies room and see blood or feces sprayed on the wall one more time... Public does not mean "no boundaries" and "do what you like" ladies. Last I looked, it was a retail business like any other trying to stay in business. It ain't your home or a library folks! —booklover

• For the aspiring working-class, a bookstore job is the top of the retail food-chain, especially if you have academic aspirations. I used to work at Border's, so . . . —ZN
  

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2008-06-10 21:56:01   Why the hell would I return the books to the dumpster? Borders threw them out, they forfeited their right to tell me what to do with them. What a stupid idea. What a waste. —TobinJones

• I think they mean don't leave them all strewn about the dumpster area when you're done browsing. —pxl
  

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2008-06-13 13:26:35   If you sit down to study/read for over fifteen minutes, they will ask you to leave. —jrendler

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2008-06-26 00:33:31   As a BookLOVER, I find it amazing that folks that visit Borders and Barnes and Noble use them as a library. It's almost like vistors feel entitled to sit for hours and read, stack books all over the place leaving a huge-ass mess and then complain that staff trys to run it as a business or a retail store. It's no wonder that you perceive the staff as unfriendly or bitchy. I like a bookstore to be organized, alphabetized and free of parasites sitting in the aisles blocking the areas where I want to BUY books. It's a retail store, not a study hall. If I buy one more book/magazine at Borders with crumbs or coffee stains on the back... —booklover

• Amen! The thing I find funny is how at bigger stores like the ones you mentioned, people never ask if its ok to read in the store; they just assume. However, if you go to smaller, independent bookstores, people usually ask if its ok before doing so. I wonder if people do so because they don't care about the "big box" stores or if they know its not ok, but just have more respect for the smaller indy stores? —SunjeetBaadkar

• "It's almost like visitors feel entitled to sit for hours and read." Yeah we do. Some of us just know how to treat books. booklover seems to be a Borders employee, and as such, her/is comments come off as that much more offensive. I have NEVER been into a bookstore that wont allow you to browse the books on the shelves. I guess if a particular corporation is focused on selling as many books as possible, without regard for the quality of the books, they would want people to get in, buy lots of books without reading them first, and get out before there's any loss of efficiency in this capitalist transaction. If ANY bookstore employee interrupted my reading to tell me "this isn't a library," even if they called themselves a booklover, I'd tell them where to go and never buy from there again. —PxlAted

• I'm in the middle on this (and don't let my current employment distract my point) and agree that people should be allowed to browse as needed (in fact, at my store, we encourage people to sit in the store as long as they want and just read; we get a lot of regulars that do just that as well as study or play chess or whatever and have never told anyone to leave just for anything). I do, however, agree with the first point made about visitors leaving stacks of books all over the place, but then again, I'm not the type to be grabbing more books than I can hold with a single hand unless I intend on buying them all. Or worse, people shoving the books back into the wrong place just because they are in a hurry to go somewhere else and don't want to admit to the bookstore employees that they don't remember where the book they pulled goes. That is my biggest pet peeve because it deprives others of being able to enjoy the book just for the sake of a previous patron's not wanting to admit having a bad memory or being too lazy. But this is just me ranting... —SunjeetBaadkar
  

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2008-07-21 23:32:39   Sorry, not an employee. But I am a book collector/lover who loves Borders. I checked out the new Borders.com where I can get my books without coffee stains or chocolate stained fingerprints. I will spend my money there. I stick to my original point, it's not a library, it's RETAIL. —booklover

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2008-09-02 03:48:18   This comment of Borders and B&N not being libraries (which they're not) brings up a good point, though: where is there a library to read comic books at? :D

On a more relevant note—I've just moved to Davis and haven't been to Borders yet. How big is it relative to, say, the one in northern Sacramento? When I've driven by it going to and from the campus while I lived in Sac, it seemed somewhat small. —RobertM525

• Depends on the system. I know some library systems do carry comic books (right next to the magazines). Do any of the many local libraries?
  

• The Davis Public Library actually has quite an impressive collection of comics and manga (they're in the young adult section), and an even larger collection is available through the interlibrary loan system. Also, if there's a title you want that they don't have, you can request they purchase it. In my experience, they are relatively quick to purchase new items. The popular series tend to always be checked out, I found it easiest to use the online system to reserve them.
  

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2008-09-20 17:40:07   It's funny how the police are always there on time to hand out tickets. The only time I really needed the cops was when this angry teen tried to attack me and my mom at the sale section set up outside Borders. Luckily, two guys confronted this angry heckler who kept calling me the 'N' word (which didn't make sense, cuz I was asian). Eventually, one of the bystanders called the cops. Do things happen happen that often (I don't know if I should go back again)? By the way, thanks for the two guys who stood up for me. —ronlad33

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2009-05-24 17:29:42   They took out a majority of their chairs, (cause everyone was just reading books but not buying any), so it becomes uncomfortable after a while. —aaron.smith

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2009-06-25 20:16:25   The selection here seems to be shrinking very fast, at the same time that prices for books have doubled. It's getting harder and harder to find new authors I want to read here, and I have to pay much more when I do. Amazon may be the only option soon. :-( —IDoNotExist

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2009-07-04 11:15:59   As mentioned previously, the selection at borders is indeed shrinking rapidly. There are signs in the store saying that they are rearranging it, but they also seem to be dumping much of their inventory. Here's a few sad scenes from the store: —IDoNotExist

• I'm pretty sure they are just re-arranging stuff and books are moved to the back temporarily. I haven't seen prices double, I'm pretty sure that they can't price the book higher than on the cover or sleeve, and if they could it would be financial suicide. If you are signed up for their email list, they very frequently send 30-50% off coupons. —KellyM

Ironically, the Business Bestsellers section has no books at all. Perhaps this is a sad statement on the current economy? Lonely books with few friends on the shelves

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2009-09-11 10:05:30   I come here all the time to read, although at times I do feel a bit guilty for doing so because I never buy anything. Then again who has the luxury to buy a $30 hardcover (without the risk of starving for a week)? —AvidSpots

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2009-09-15 13:16:08   There are small cockroaches in the puffy brown seats (reading area) by the window. Not sure if this is Seattles's Best Coffee's area or Borders. —Alex

• It is both. Although it is sort of two seperate company names, the SBC staff is cross-trained and also is able to work as the floor staff (who also takes care of things). However, when it comes to cleaning, there is an actual cleaning crew that is not affiliated with the Borders staff that comes in every night to clean. Roaches in the chairs is most likely the result of clumsy customers dropping crumbs and other food substances on the chair in the process of consuming whatever product they just bought from SBC. Most customers don't like to fess up to their mistakes and move on quite quickly without a second thought. The cleaning crew does not regularly clean the chairs as they mostly specialize in carpets and windows (and the bathrooms). The SBC staff deals with the cafe area (which consists of the serving area and kitchen, not the customer area). If sometimes like this occurs, it would be prudent to let a manager know as they will be the ones who will actually take action and have the cleaning crew take care of it. Although I work for their competition in this town, I speak from the point of view of a business person. Change doesn't happen unless someone speaks up. —SunjeetBaadkar
  

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2009-10-02 22:52:26   Free WiFi may be coming to Borders... http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jL5GVif0PRMM1DD6R25pcVLJyaagD9B187AG0 —IDoNotExist

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2009-11-13 14:18:34   Who doesn't love Borders? Although this Borders is smaller than ones I'm used to, I still enjoy coming here to get some work done or to browse through the new books. It seems that almost every time I go, I somehow end up purchasing at least one item. They have the best Christmas cards this year! —sjpacheco

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2009-11-17 20:53:13   Borders WiFi drops connections every few minutes. Sometimes, as infrequently as ever 15 or 20. Sometimes as frequently as every 1 or 2. It seems to depend on how often you access a web page. Other services such as IM or mail do not reset the clock (if there is one.) —IDoNotExist

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2009-11-19 11:39:49   Borders seems to be suffering from mismanagement once again. As any male who has used the bathroom at Borders in the last month can attest: The men's bathroom has no running water. At some point (apparently about a month ago) both sinks in the men's bathroom stopped working and the Borders management has not fixed this despite frequent complaints by male patrons. Apparently personal hygiene is not a priority at Borders.

So what is a priority at Borders? Hostility to customers might be. After Borders recently added wireless internet to attract customers, the store now seems to be saying "oops, we actually don't want those customers after all." The store has removed tables in close proximity to wall sockets that customers could use to power their laptops. In addition, they have stacked books in front of these wall sockets to further deter customers from using them, and told customers who do use them that the cords on the floor pose a tripping hazard and thus no one can plug in their laptops. This would seem to be a logical argument but one should argue that the 2 foot tall stacks of books they erected in place of the cords are more of a tripping hazard than the one centimeter tall power cords ever were.

Having used Borders as a study location, I estimate all customers combined who come for the internet order about 20 items from the coffee store per day, and are also likely to purchase a book at some point (I have purchased several). The loss of these customers and the local damage to their brand due to a lack of commitment to ensuring people's hygiene will hurt business at Borders. —ColinDoyle

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2009-11-20 14:49:58   Anyone knows why they kept moving the shelves by the children's area? We have a hard time finding stuff over there! Also the IKEA kids chairs are nice, but they really doesn't withstand kids leaning backwards (not to mention when adults sit on them..). Suggest getting some sturdy wooden chairs.. also sometimes I see (comic?) reading people monopolizing the chairs at the children's section while the kids sit on the floor :( —val