Borders left many empty storefronts when it went out of business in 2011, leaving a feeling of unease in the book business.
Four years later and a new trend is beginning to take off, and it is much more promising. Indie bookstores are starting to open up shop in shuttered spaces that were formerly inhabited by Borders.
While indies aren’t always taking over the full spaces formerly occupied by Borders, landlords are now more willing to subdivide empty real estate. Publishers Weekly has explored the phenomenon in detail. Here is an excerpt:
After several solid years, independents are looking at adding locations and taking back some of the physical bookshelf space that had been lost. Some are focusing on underserved towns where Borders once flourished, such as La Grange, Ill. Anderson’s Bookshops will open its third bookstore there on May 2, Independent Bookstore Day. Other stores, including Gottwals Books and its Walls of Books franchise, headquartered in Byron, Ga., are creating opportunities to encourage more would-be bookstore owners to give bookselling a try.