Customers Will Miss Borders for More Than Just Books

Before too long, the Farmington will be closed and quiet, ending an era in which it opened each day at 10 a.m. and buzzed with activity.

Regulars settle in with a cup of coffee and a book, magazine or morning news. Readers are browsing summer reads, computer manuals and new age materials while moms are looking for birthday presents, waiting for story time or just keeping the kids occupied for a while.

Businessmen spread laptops, cell phones and jackets across tables in the back corner of the store and start work in a borrowed office.

This morning, Lauren Peters, of Newington, is mulling over a purchase at the café.

“This is more than just books. It’s a social gathering place,” she said. “The news of its closing is heavy on my heart…when you come in here you see friendly faces and sometimes people play backgammon or chess.”

Gene Belanger comes all the way from Cromwell to the Farmington store.

“I am devastated. This is my favorite bookstore,” he said among the rows of car magazines. “There are certain magazines I don’t necessarily buy but I look at and there’s a plethora of computer stuff,” he said.

Andra Langey of Middletown came up because she heard the store would close.

“If it closed I think I would die almost,” said the 17-year-old. “This is where I come to get all my books, my supplies. I could go to the library but I want to be able to hold them in my hands, mark them up, write in them and save them, maybe for my children someday.”

Some customers said the national chain of 399 stores may have made a few missteps along the way by selling e-readers and e-books or diverging from its main mission of providing books and music.

“They maybe made some bad choices,” said Betsy Sharp of Rocky Hill.

Peters agreed but thought the competition from online book retailers like Amazon, with sales-tax free sales and online reviews were responsible for the chain’s demise.

But though readers may still be able to find books, a community of strangers who have come to depend on Borders as a place to study and socialize and authors young and old who hold poetry readings and book signings will be without a home.

“It’s a shame,” Sharp said. “This is a place I love to come and sit.” She and her husband had come to use up their gift certificates before the store closes.

But when the store will close is not yet known. It could be as late as September depending on inventory sales. Employees, including the store manager declined to comment.