The story appears to be over for Borders on Wolf Road, as the store prepares to close its doors for good on Monday, Sept. 6.
Kolleen O’Meara, spokeswoman for Borders, said the coming months will be a good time for discounted books and magazines.
It’s a great time to stock up on Christmas presents, she said.
The decision to close the Wolf Road Borders was the result of an examination of all Borders in the country and their performances in the fiscal year, which began this year, in February 2008. According to O’Meara, nine Borders have opened up in the fiscal year, and only one store — the one on Wolf Road — will close.
The store, located at 59 Wolf Road, Colonie, first opened on Oct. 15, 1993.
`The store was underperforming expectations,` said O’Meara.
Whatever products are left over from the Wolf Road store will be distributed to other stores in the rest of the country. If employees wish to stay with the company, O’Meara said, Borders will work with them to help find them positions at other locations.
Although O’Meara would not comment on whether the bookstore’s closing had anything to do with the rise in Internet usage, other local book businesses have said that the popularity of the Internet is hurting sales.
`I actually don’t even consider Barnes and Noble competition. Our biggest competition is the Internet,` said Maria Perry, owner and manager of Flights of Fantasy book and gaming supply store.
Perry said that her store tries to draw customers in despite discounted prices online by matching rare products with discounts that are offered online in her store.
Other local bookstore owners said they are not fazed by the growing online marketplace.
`Overall there is no sense of threat,` said Amy Lane, a book buyer at Open Door Bookstore and Gift Gallery in Schenectady.
Lane said that in general, the store’s statistics do not show that it is in danger.
Perry said that since Flights of Fantasy is a specialty store, she is not very worried about her store’s future either.
`In a sense, in many ways it [the closing of the Wolf Road Borders] will actually be hopefully better for us,` she said.
Perry said that many times, Borders employees sent customers to her store when they were unable to find what they were looking for there. She said she hopes that when Borders closes, customers will go directly to Flights of Fantasy, which is about one half mile away from Borders, on Sand Creek Road.
Perry said Flights of Fantasy offers a different environment from that of many chain bookstores. In the store are two FIV-positive cats: Miles and Amber. Perry said that sales of `Magic The Gathering` cards, as well as other decks of cards, help pay for the cats’ medications, which total nearly $100 per month.
“