Borders Books (Borders in general)

Member Name: GuruOnAMountain

Product:	Borders in general
Date:	26/09/04 (115 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Large, spacious store., Good range including stationary etc., Staff on hand to help.

Disadvantages: Generally very busy., Goods are usually over-priced., Easy to get lost in.

You know what my favourite smell is? Books. Yup, I have a particular penchant for the smell of old books, but will settle for new ones at a push. In fact, there isn't much I don't like about books. I like looking at them, reading them, handling them, buying them. I'm a regular little bookworm indeed, so it's no particular surprise that when I'm shopping in Glasgow I always head to Borders.

The Borders nearest me (the Glasgow branch) is a contemporary-styled, modern building (with automatic doors, no less, not to mention fancy escalators). Most of the shop is decorated quite plainly in a whitish-grey, although some parts are painted a sunshine yellow and the kids' books section is fantastic with colourful walls and carpets.

When you enter this great emporium of knowledge containing products you can find the cash registers to your right, book displays and stairs leading to an area that sells cards, stationary, calendars etc. and, slightly to your left, there is an escalator leading to the upper floors. There is a handy little signpost next to the escalator informing you which floor you're looking for. However, I generally find myself getting lost once I get to the floor I want, anyway, and have to wander around the floor for half an hour, usually ending up walking through a harmless looking door and finding myself 2 floors down and facing the exit.

Most of the books are displayed on large bookcases, although in some areas of the store there are book displays on large tables. Books are neatly categorised (it's just a matter of finding the right floor for each category), and since this is a rather imposing building of multiple floors, you're needs are more than likely to be catered for.

You can even browse CDs and DVDs downstairs, although there isn't a huge selection to choose from, and you'd probably be best going to Virgin or HMV. Like most of these large popular bookstores, there is a coffee shop and plenty of big soft, comfy armchairs to sit in. I'm sure this is a plus-point to most shoppers. After all they can settle back into a squishy armchair, take the weight off their feet and have a read of a book with a coffee for half an hour, but this is one thing that really irks me. I'm not a coffee drinker, and I don't particularly like the smell of it, so I'd rather wander around perusing books without the aroma of coffee beans raping my nostrils, but oh well, I suppose I can't always get everything I want in life.

Personally, I prefer Borders to similar stores such as Waterstones as I feel there is more room to browse in (I always feel like the bookshelves are closing in on me in Waterstones!). Plus, I feel Borders sells more in terms of stationary, CDs etc. so it's more of a one-stop-shop than other bookstores.

However, I feel that it is always 'packed to the gunnels' as my dear old dad would say, and that doesn't make for an enjoyable shopping experience. More importantly, their prices are sky high, usually, and you can buy books off Amazon or similar internet sites for much cheaper, and you'd probably have a bigger range to choose from.

Nevertheless, as convenient as internet shopping is, sometimes you can't quite beat going into a bookstore in person and being able to pick up and flick through the books before you spend your hard-earned cash on them, and I do believe that Borders is one of, if not THE best, bookstore to do this in.

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