Business & Tech

Borders Sells Its Last Book

The Borders bookstore in Ballwin officially closed this weekend, while its neighbor store remains at its location only into next month.

books and music in Ballwin held its last day of business Sunday, a store representative said.

Few cars were parked in the lot immediately south of the store on Manchester Road on Monday. Instead of other cars or shoppers, passerbys there were greeted by a small sign with instructions intended for a pickup crew; the store's interior was virtually empty, but a small group of workers continued to empty out fixtures and other sparse remains late Monday.

The Ballwin Borders was one of about 400 stores nationwide scheduled to be closed. Representatives previously stated that the store would close completely in April.

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John Appleby is the owner of Furniture Solutions, the store next to the closed Borders. He said he already had plans to relocate his business to another location in Ballwin prior to .

Applby said the store's current spot suffers because despite high traffic volume, the storefronts aren't highly visible.

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"The good thing is, I have 70,000 cars pass by here each day," Appleby said. "The bad thing is, I have 70,000 cars pass by here each day."

Appleby said customers sometimes cringe when they hear his store is located on Manchester Road due to dense daytime and sometimes evening traffic and extended travel times.

Appleby said the loss of Borders and the traffic issue in general both prompt concerns in terms of municipal sales tax revenue. In addition to Borders, the City of Ballwin in recent months also and .

"Ballwin should be worried," Appleby said.

Still, Appleby said the current property owner indicated there are at least two businesses interested in renting the two properties that Borders and soon Furniture Solutions will leave behind; Appleby said his store will relocate some time in May.


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