I had a professor in Ann Arbor, birthplace of Borders, who gave gift cards to his TAs. I worked for him several times. In the early years, he gave us Borders gift cards in appreciation for our work that semester. In the later years, he was giving us Amazon gift cards since Borders was no more. I asked him about whether he was giving us gift cards to the business that killed Borders. He said, no, he knew somebody in the book industry who said that it wasn't Amazon that killed Borders, but Walmart. I think the reasoning was something like, Borders made a lot of its money on the bestsellers, but Walmart offered those same bestsellers for much less. I might have some of the details wrong, so be sure to do your own research on this claim.
I haven't come across the particular view, but it does seem like Borders' relationship to other booksellers was complicated and not zero sum. The idea of buying books at Walmart already sounds so old fashioned to me!
I had a professor in Ann Arbor, birthplace of Borders, who gave gift cards to his TAs. I worked for him several times. In the early years, he gave us Borders gift cards in appreciation for our work that semester. In the later years, he was giving us Amazon gift cards since Borders was no more. I asked him about whether he was giving us gift cards to the business that killed Borders. He said, no, he knew somebody in the book industry who said that it wasn't Amazon that killed Borders, but Walmart. I think the reasoning was something like, Borders made a lot of its money on the bestsellers, but Walmart offered those same bestsellers for much less. I might have some of the details wrong, so be sure to do your own research on this claim.
I haven't come across the particular view, but it does seem like Borders' relationship to other booksellers was complicated and not zero sum. The idea of buying books at Walmart already sounds so old fashioned to me!