Borders

This location is now CLOSED.
(Sept. 2011)

RIP Borders, you will be missed.
I love hanging out in bookstores and browsing around for books that I really shouldn’t be buying because I’ve yet to read so many that I already own.
I particularly liked this store for it’s simple, single floor layout. I can’t stand all the other bookstores in the city, in which finding a book requires several floors and mazes of escalators.
First B&N, now Borders. Where the hell am I going to go to kill time now? Maybe I’ll stay home and actually read for a change…

This was my go-​to for picking up the books I ordered online (gotta use the best discount!) – it will be missed.
Gotta say, this location was all business (never hung out clogging up the aisles) and crowded but they always had what I was looking for (in-​store and online) and took my coupons!
I’m curious if the next retailer will be another bookstore…

Sure your travel section looks messy. And there’s never anywhere to sit… EVER. And you always have the longest lines on the weekends.
But you do offer 30−40% off coupons frequently, and you always have buy 2’s get one frees, and your membership is free. Your sales associates are nothing but friendly and helpful.
Quite possible my 4^th home in the last 5 years, this is THE place I have spent many hours killing time, browsing books, and reading up on my future world travels.
Dear dear Borders, you will be missed. I don’t really want you to go, but if you do… how about you sell your Time Warner location to a Bön Chon perhaps?

When I read that Borders is bankrupt and closing all of its stores soon, I recognized a changing era — a reflection of a changing lifestyle. Because of the rise of electronics and the internet, the sale of physical books is a dying business. That is not to say that the rise of the ebooks like nook or the kindle will replace actual books altogether but the business of physical bookstores will be diminished over time and there will be fewer and fewer bookstores.
While Borders like Barnes and Noble pretty much carry about the same titles, what i do appreciate about Borders is that they have a membership card that is free of charge. I never shopped in Borders but it’s good to know that what you buy will be added up as points to be calculated into a percentage discount later on.
The other thing I appreciate about Borders is that they have pretty neat in the magazine department. All the magazines each have their own «slot» and there aren’t any magazines on top of each other making it difficult to find the title you want.
Another thing I notice about Borders is that their sales section often have decent stuff. I remember one time someone I was with was looking for a wallet and he found one from the sale section. I have seen everything from books, paper weights, pens on the sale section before. While Borders is still around, be sure to check out this section.

Three stars because still a nice store, and fortunately on business. After B&N closed most of their stores, I assume the business here has increased a little.
But who is buy actual books these days with today’s technology. Sadly, even this nice store eventually will close like the others.
The nice thing here is that the staff is friendly and willing to assist, nice coffee shop with tones of seating around; comfortable for anyone interested in reading a book for a while and returning it to the shelf and come back the next day to continue. I mean, why buy it when they let you read it there and give you a nice place for it.

The first time I ever actually heard of this Borders was in January 2011, and I went that same day, as I’ve lost my ”love” for Barnes & Noble and my first ever experience in a Borders was a good one (that one was in D.C.). I go, having no clue how to get there exactly. I find it, and almost passed it because it was IN the mall.
I agree with the other reviewers that this mall is not one I’d go to to actually shop because all the shops are quite expensive for me, personally (Bebe, Armani, Coach etc), but one of my biggest peeves is going around these places and being stared at like I’m a hijacker or something. Ugh. I didnt go anywhere near these shops, I walked in, went up to Borders, went down the escalator and left. As Borders was my only pourpose.
Anywho, I already knew what I was looking for and in what section I’d find it (with all the other manga). I found my books on my own, went to the line and payed for them on my own and left. No workers there asked if I needed help or anything. It took me a while to find them because unlike B&N, Borders doesnt have a ”Manga Section”…at Borders it’s called something else (cant remember what. sorry).
This Borders was DEFINATELY cluttered, un-​organised, messy etc etc. I cant say that the workers were rude because I LITERALLY didnt speak to anyone from there except the cashier.
The cashier was super sweet and friendly. I asked her some questions and she was very open, and honest and courteous. so that’s why they get 3 stars… SOLELY BECAUSE OF HER!..
IDK her name. but she’s cool.
LOL…I think I’ll find another Borders though.

This is a typical Border’s. Thinking that it is in Columbus Circle it would stand out, but I kinda like the one in the Financial District much better. You tend to forget this this is here since it’s inside a shopping center. Plus theres a big Barnes and Nobles a few walks up. On the plus side. Border’s always has a sale section with lots of cookbooks that range from $ 5 – 10, which is a bargain.

The people aren’t knowledgeable and don’t even pretend to care that you need help. The store s always dirty and sloppy, and books can be extremely difficult to find on your own.
BUT when this place has an event (which it has a lot of!) the place shines. We’ll not really, the place is usually dirtier when there is an event. Bu the employees care, and they explain all the details about the event to you with out any nastiness, they even allow time for you to take a photo with the author and everything. If your looking for food tho, try the Whole Foods downstairs, this place has an over priced Dean and Deluca café. 9 bucks for a sandwich… and small sandwich. PASS!
So basically i’m a Barnes and Noble girl, this place truly sucks in comparison. But the events freaking rock are the only reason to walk in the door.

The store is a bit cluttered. I’ve encountered staff attitude problems on multiple occasions. The prices are jacked up for the location. And I never leave feeling truly helped by their staff.
But they leave you alone if you sit there for hours in a chair or even on the floor reading books. So they’re my «waiting for a friend to arrive» spot.

It’s a Borders like any other ones but I might have seen the scariest example of plastic surgery ever here. I’m talking, unnatural, unhuman, scary woman. I had to use the bookstacks to hide!

I’ve never before given a bookstore less than three stars, but this store always annoys me; it seems to be in a state of perpetual disarray. As others have alluded to, there are lots of *non*-book items for sale (meaning, essentially, junky stuff [for example; if you work near there and suddenly discover it’s your colleague’s birthday, you could rush over at lunchtime and buy a generic useless item]).
An infuriating aspect of this store is that people who apparently consider themselves to be «special» take over the café for seemingly hours at a time. Even more egregious is that most of them don’t even *pretend* to be customers (they’re very easy to spot, since they never buy any drinks or food). And; if you politely ask to borrow one of the permanently unoccupied chairs at their table, WWIII erupts instantaneously. (Of course, not even a sign about hogging tables would have any effect on those «privileged» people).
Yet another thing I can’t stand — although I’ve noticed it at other bookstores, but it’s a constant problem here on weekday afternoons (which is always when I’m here) — is that High School students take over the aisles in certain departments after school and hordes of them sprawl there. It’s absolutely impossible to look at books in those sections (such as graphic novels) and the store employees only make a half-​hearted attempt to do something about it (and even then, they fall all over themselves apologizing). As a *paying* customer, I’d appreciate a concerted effort.
(Update on 10÷6÷10): I’ve been here several times recently — and although nothing I wrote previously has changed, I must admit that I’ve encountered several *really* great employees and therefore I feel the store now deserves three stars.
(Update on 5÷31÷11): This store got a new manager several months ago (Coreen) and she’s a really nice person, so I’m somewhat optimistic that she can turn things around. Also, there’s a very friendly young guy (Jay) who always calls to tell me that books I’ve ordered have arrived.

Recently Borders, in a move to ensure they couldn’t be one-​upped by Barnes & Noble again, decided to put free wi-​fi at all locations. Yay! However, this location sucks for sitting and writing or working. Boo.
That’s because the eating area — Dean & Deluca of all pretentious things — is constantly mobbed by pretentious people acting as if they enjoy the food but really just looking for a place to read magazines while they wait for their lives to stop sucking. There are no outlets, the store is usually a bit noisy because it’s close quarters, and the food is overpriced.
But, hey, free wi-​fi. If you need the fix, head over.
The store itself is fairly large, just a bit cramped. I usually find the staff helpful and the selection all right.

My reading tastes don’t really stray all that far from the mainstream, but I’ll be damned if this Borders has ever had a book I was looking for. Even when I’m not looking to buy, just to kill some time, I find myself struggling to find something to flip through.
And I’m not looking for obscure 18^th Century Proto-​Feminist Transcripts from the Greater European Conference on Maple Syrup. I’m talking about a full backlist for popular authors. I’m talking about the first book in a long running series. I’m talking about some of the most popular graphic novels being published today.
Two stars for just being there and being the closest bookstore to my office. Minus three stars for being the bookstore I’m stuck with because it’s the closest to my office.

Its ok pretty small…
I went on Friday at about 2:30pm and it was packed with people but I just think it was packed because its small.
The Bathroom was pretty clean.
They need MORE SEATS.

It gets two starts for its massive Harry Potter parties before the book gets released but for everything else its not really ideal. Its not big enough and while I know its nyc… CC could have made it a bit bigger and not so crowded. Even if you want to grab food and try to read a book there its too busy for you to really find a table and people are coming in and out as if that is the only food they have in the area (whole foods IS LOCATED TWO FLOORS DOWN). If you just want to go in grab a book, wait in line, and leave super fast. sure go ahead. They have the top books, not huge selections, but enough good books to go around. Make sure you know where you are going though since the people in that store probably don’t read as much as you and have no idea what you are talking about or where you might find the book.sorry.

Dear Borders,
1) I love that you’re popular (even if you are a chain bookstore). It’s so nice to walk into a bookstore at 2PM on a Thursday and find it packed.
2) In light of #1, have you considered adding additional seating? It’s sort of awkward to find someone sitting in just about every aisle of your store– even near the bathrooms! It feels less like a bookstore and more like JFK after five flights have been cancelled.
3) Love that you have an «African American interests» section but it feels weird to group Ralph Ellison with Zane, doesn’t it? I mean, one is part of the American canon and the other is, well, far from the canon.
4) Some of your sections are really robust– like fiction– and some of your sections seem like the book buyers are on strike (like sociology). I know you’re not an academic bookseller, but it would be nice if you carried staple texts, like say, something by Durkheim or Marx, or even something more contemporary like Julie Schor or Sudhir Venkatesh. Same for women’s studies which is so tiny, I blinked and missed it.

As busy and full of tourists (including me) as this Borders is, it is very efficient and spacious enough where I don’t feel like I’m bumping into every backpack and fanny-​pack this side of Central Park. I picked up a gift here for my gracious hostess who let me stay with her in NYC. The only complaint I have is that they could have asked me (1) whether I was buying the book as a gift and (2) if I would like to have it complimentarily gift wrapped. I had to come in a second time, almost bought gift wrapping at $ 8, before the cashier told me I could have the book wrapped free of charge.
The coffeeshop was a nice place to just stop and chill. I bought a very overpriced bottle of iced tea. But I think what’s more offensive than overpriced coffee is the huge groups and large families of tourists who ignore the «Tables are for customers only» signs and occupy the limited number of tables and chairs.

I usually enjoy a trip to Borders. While I prefer the small and cozy independent bookstores located all over this great city, sometimes I find myself in these giant literary mega stores.
This one is just a big clusterfuck of a tourist trap with books and rubes in it. Another issue I have with this place is that the staff seems like a bunch of walking zombies. I needed help with something and no one seemed to be able to talk to me. Either they were busy or told me to ask someone else.
Getting back to the tourist hate I was hinting at earlier. It seems like when people are visiting another city they use bookstores like Borders to kill some time during their day and just browse the magazine section. Nothing wrong with that, but for some odd reason it always irks me.
But if you need a book, you have so many options around here, don’t waste your time at this mess.

This Borders is located inside the Time Warner shops at Columbus Circle. The staff is rather inattentive to client’s needs and are not knowlegeable in the book industry. They do not have a gargantuan selection of classic literature as Chronicles of Narnia or John Grisham’s collection. The staff heavily relies on computers to search titles and authors to assist customers with their purchases as they are NOT book smart. They are not fit for the book industry as they are not knowledgeable with reputable titles and authors in history. The staff is completely ignorant of well known Chinese classic literature of:
Outlaws of the Marsh
Journey to the West
Three Kingdom
Ultimately I purchased these books directly from
to save the sanity of ignorant people who are not vigilance in Chinese classics or even classic literature.

Ganz in der Nähe des Central Park — Manhattan West Side — unten im neuen Time Warner Center gelegen. (Oben wohnen die Superreichen in ihren Luxusapartments.)
Borders ist ein herrlicher und typisch amerikanischer Buchhandels-​Filialist. Hier in diesem Store kann man sich eine kleine Auszeit nehmen, eine Tasse Kaffee trinken und dabei in Büchern und Zeitschriften stöbern. Und die Ruhe genießen. Mein fester Bestandteil eines schönen Tages in New York.