Why Teddy Bears Won't Save Borders...

First off, I want to say that I don't want this entry to come across like a bitter ex-employee. I worked for Borders for 7 years. I want Borders to succeed. I had a good run with the company. I made lifelong friends, was able to buy my first home, and more importantly I was able to spend 7 years of my life doing something I was passionate about. I was able to sell books. I could have found better opportunities that paid better, but I loved what I was doing.

I left the company on good terms. I wasn't laid off like so many people I worked with over the years. A better opportunity was presented to me, so I left Borders for an opportunity to better do what I loved about working for the company. I went to work for an independent bookstore, where a passion for books is rewarded, and still seen as a valuable skill.

Publishers Weekly just posted a blog asking Can Teddy Bears Save Borders? Yeah, teddy bears. Borders is teaming up with Build-A-Bear to sell bears because more books are being purchased online, and this is their way of redefining the bookstore. Borders tried the same thing a year ago when they decided to revamp their children's departments to carry a wide-variety of children's toys and games. It didn't work. The toys didn't sell, and most of them were clearanced out after Christmas. The revamp didn't generate more sales, and it didn't bring in new customers looking for toys. It alienated the regular customers who wanted to know where all the books went.

If Borders wants to redefine the bookstore, they can't do it by focusing on finding something other than books to sell. They need to put the focus back on books. The company pretended they were doing that last year when, under Ron Marshall's leadership, they rolled out the "Make Books" program. Each week, the corporate office would pick one or two titles that all staff members were required to hand sell. Each store was given a specific goal for each title, and if those goals weren't met the staff would be written up, threatened, and called bottom feeders and losers on conference calls.

The company executives didn't understand how bookstores work. You can't take one book and force it on everyone. Ask any school student who has been forced to read something for a class assignment. While the company was boasting about putting books like Kelly Corrigan's The Middle Place and Jamie Ford's The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet on the New York Times Bestseller List, they were continuing to alienate customers with senseless recommendations, and alienating employees with threats. No one wanted to listen to staff members saying that the "would you like fries with that" approach wouldn't sell books.

The contradiction was laughable. Borders wanted its stores to have the feel of an independent bookstore, where employees were always ready with a recommendation on what to read. While they were using the Make Books program to create this illusion they were telling hiring managers that book knowledge wasn't an important attribute to look for in potential new hires. Instead, they should focus on people who could sell anything. Given the choice between a candidate that had great book knowledge but needed help with selling skills, and a candidate that never read but could sell anything, the latter option was the person to hire.

Ron Marshall eventually left Borders and Mike Edwards took over. The Make Book program went away and the people stopped being called losers on conference calls. I'm not mentioning all of this to vilify Borders. The company was in bad shape, and was doing anything it could to stay afloat. Well, doing anything but what it needed to be doing.

Borders needs to rediscover the importance of books. If you want customers to value books, you have to value them yourself. If Borders continues to push books aside for games, Paperchase trinkets (they have since sold Paperchase, so I don't know how that factors into stores anymore), and now teddy bears, they're showing their customers that they aren't committed to selling books.

They need to hire people that can sell books. Most of the people that I know that left the company were avid readers and were passionate about books. Like me, they got fed up with how working for Borders became about selling widgets. We sat by as executive after executive viewed each book as some generic thing to sell. Borders needs to take a look at the people in the organization, from the cashiers behind the registers to the CEOs calling the shots. Are they hiring readers that can sell books, or hiring yet another exec from a grocery store that think he can sell books the same was Kroger sells candy bars?

I want Borders to survive. Everyone loses if we lose the chain bookstores. Borders needs to find a way out of this identity crisis. Teddy bears aren't going to help them do that. A store stuffed with lots of books, and staff members that are excited about those books will.

(and here's another article about the partnership with Build-A-Bear)

Mary Ann in Autumn

I had completely forgotten that Armistead Maupin was doing another Tales of the City book, so I was thrilled when we got an advanced reader copy at work. I was curious to see how another book would fit into the series. When Michael Tolliver Lives came out, Maupin was very adamant that it wasn't another book in the series. It was written in first person and told from Michael's perspective. I didn't love it. It wasn't fun, and it was really hard to see the characters interacting in the modern world. That book worked more as an epilogue to the series, and thinking of it that way made me appreciate it more.

In the new book, Mary Ann in Autumn, a pair of calamities has sent Mary Ann back to San Francisco. Like Michael Tolliver Lives, the book is set in modern day San Francisco. It was jarring to see the former denizens of Barbary Lane talking about their iPhones, tweeting, and Facebook. I know that one of the things that Maupin is known for is how he incorporates pop culture into his writing. I felt like the Tales books did a great job of making you feel like you were experiencing San Francisco in the 70s. It felt really forced in this book. I felt like I was being beat over the head with the fact that it was 2010. Facebook plays a significant part in the plot of the book, but was it really necessary for the reader to know that Mary Ann doesn't like Mafia Wars or Farmville?

One thing that Maupin does is use the mention of technology to show how the characters are uncomfortable with technology and feel out of place in today's world. I think he goes a little too far with it. The references become too distracting. As the book progresses, he manages to find the right balance but the start of the book might turn faithful Tales readers off before they get into the heart of the book. While he spends so much time talking about social media, he makes sure the reader know that he hates it.

Politics, as always, are addressed as well. Maupin addresses Prop 8, and takes a few swipes at the Obama administration. It would be impossible to write about San Francisco and not address Prop 8. I appreciated how he used the character of Jake Greenleaf (Michael's transgendered gardening assistant) to address it, and to make it personal. Jake is a welcome addition to the family. If Maupin decides to keep writing more Tales books I'm looking forward to seeing how he and Shanwa (Mary Ann and Brian's adopted daughter) grow.

Just about everyone that I talked to hates Mary Ann. Her character development in the later books of the series don't leave much room for anyone to feel empathy for her. Don't look for this book to redeem her. It would have been easy for Maupin to write a book where Mary Ann comes home and is welcomed with open arms, but he didn't. She falls back into to easy relationships with some of the characters, but not all.

I can't say what I loved most about the book without revealing a major spoiler. I'll just say that Maupin goes back to a storyline from the first book and does it REALLY well. Once the clues start clicking into place the book gets really really good.

I enjoyed Mary Ann in Autumn much more than Michael Tolliver Lives. I feel like there was more humor in this one. It was a more light hearted, and had hints of the books that I loved so much. I loved catching up with all of the characters that I adore, and if you look at these newer books as a way to grab a quick cup of coffee with old friends they're easier to enjoy.