It's officially the final chapter for Borders stores across the country. The book store giant will be closing it's entire chain and liquidating all remaining stores, including the one in Davenport, and Waldenbooks in Moline.
It's no storybook ending. Some Borders customers who frequent the aisles stacked high with everything from non-fiction to fantasy don't want to see the store go. "I'll miss it. I'm sure there's a lot of people that come through here that will miss having this store," said Vern Soeken of Rock Island.
Julie Cozad and her family frequently stop in at Borders. "We all like bookstores. It's a nice atmosphere here and a good place to spend time," said Cozad.
General Manager, Kit Whan has been with the Davenport Borders since day one, 13 years ago. She's also been with the company a total of 26 years. She and the store's 30 employees say the news that the chain is closing is like the climax in a bad horror novel. "None of us are happy. We all hoped to have a bookstore here in August but we just didn't make it," said Whan.
The 40-year-old Borders company filed for bankruptcy protection in February as book stores in general had been struggling. "I think it was a combination of the economy, technology and upper management. It takes it all. We just were punched in every way we could and didn't make it," added Whan.
After moves in February the company began closing about 200 stores in an effort to reorganize. The locations in the Davenport and Moline were not on the list to close though, until now. The company is to be bought out by a liquidator so now the remaining nearly 400 stores could start clearing out in days. "It's a sad state for the book industry, but also another problem with the economy that's happened over the last three or four years. Borders now has become another victim," said Michael Cox who stops at Borders on a weekly basis.
Liquidation on stores is expected to start soon and could take around 45 days. The General Manager in Davenport expects that, by mid-September, the doors will be closed for good.
