Bugger.

[madbaker]

Borderlands Books is closing.

I am sad about this. I bought all my SF books from them. They are nice people and I went to quite a few author events there. I don't know where I will go now - not that I buy tons of books anymore, but there are some. I suppose I could order them from our local general bookstore, but I really liked having the specialized knowledge. As well as knowing that they were likely to have what I wanted in stock.

The final straw was San Francisco's minimum wage hike - voted in overwhelmingly by the city, it will put the hourly rate over $15 in the next year or two. The owner noted that their costs are essentially fixed, as are their prices - they can't really charge more than cover price - and so they'd need at least 20% more sales, permanently, to break even. They don't see that happening.

"Why is this happening?" Look in the mirror, voters. A higher minimum wage sounds attractive, and it may be the right way to go for the city as a whole. But remember nothing comes without costs. In this case, a locally-owned small company going out of business.

Comments

I would be angry.

[learnteach.livejournal.com]

But the economic trends here of higher rents and "apps" are driving the old businesses out. And, frankly, the debtloading investment banking, the lack of overall community, and expecially the tax structure killing the middle class and small business, all contribute.

Not to mention Amazon, ebooks, and the expansion of genre fiction to a ridiculous agree.

But you're right, it hurts. We lost all the South Bay stores over a decade ago, though...

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

You're right that there are plenty of factors. That's why I said "final straw".