Borders

Thank you Borders! Going to miss you guys…
Just FYI — 60% off now.

If you don’t already know, Borders is going out of business and things are being liquidated. And even at 25−50% off, these things are still super expensive!
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be sad to see them go because I LOVE books and having a huge store to browse, study and enjoy the café, but their prices were really high.
Once Amazon came on scene, I jumped the Big Book Corporation Chain ship and did not look back. I mean, Borders was fun to hang out at, and I did enjoy getting little novelty items (the mini voodoo kit, etc.) and looking at the featured books/​authors, but I could not afford to shop there regularly.
HOWEVER, I will always have fond memories of waiting in line at 4:00 pm for the midnight release of the next Harry Potter book! One time, I was even the first one in line! Nevermind that I was 18! It’s a good thing Harry Potter’s 7 book series is over because if all the book stores shut down, where would I have gotten my midnight release books?!

Sad to see this place close it’s doors…
This place was probably the best place to kill time, or study at ward.

Aloha Borders!
With the competition of Amazon, I’m surprised this store stayed in business for as long as it did. Even with the liquidation sales, their prices weren’t even close to competitive. Are you kidding me? Only 10 percent off? A lot of people were getting suckered in thinking they were getting a good deal. The line was crazy but I thought I would get a book as a souvenir of Borders.
If you can’t keep up with the competition, make way for ones that can! Sorry Borders, your employees were really friendly!

GOODBYE BORDERS *waves*
with the onslaught of e-​readers, your demise was inevitable.
i usually go here to kill time at Ward. there is always something to find here, which is bad for my wallet.
i recently came here the first day of the liquidation sale — and OMG… the parking was ridiculous, the lines were ridiculous… i had no idea Hawaii people still read anymore, but i guess they do.
as a side note — to the guy that was in the magazine section on Friday = some deoderent would be beneficial… not just for you, its for everybody.
the sale right now is small — only 10% off of books and 20% for DVD’s… but i’m sure as time goes on, they’ll drop the prices even more.
i wonder what will take over this space? hm…

This is mostly a café review.
They have coffee and teas. Some trash sundae drinks too that I would never touch. Not many food options. Usually diabetes brownies and BS pastries.
As for what really matters, the wifi SUCKS. They have an outside seating area which is nice enough, but no plugs out there and the signal sucks. Oh, well let’s try inside part of café. Erp, still sucks.
Define «suck,» plz.
Okay, I will. Tried downloading a 65k photo and it said it would take 11 minutes. In disbelief I let it roll for 5 min and it made very little progress.
So basically don’t come here to get on the free wifi because you get what you pay for.
As for the rest of this bookstore, someone should tell their patrons there’s this thing called a library where all the books are f#@king free. And their wifi works way better.

First of all… is this location closing down?!
I came here to return a book that I purchased online. As I was looking for a possible book I’d like to exchange, I noticed that ALL the shelves were full of books that were simply thrown on the bookshelf. Talk about disorganized! There was also about half of the music/​DVD section wiped out… just racks of empty shelves! I know some of the other stores have shut down and that borders is supposedly going bankrupt… so the appearance of the store made me scared! I got store credit for returning my book, but I immediately used it again on
just in case one day the store disappears!
This particular location also has a funky smell… not quite sure how to explain it but it definitely is a place where people can hang out during the day and take advantage of the free shelter, AC and bathrooms (just saying…)
The customer service here is pretty good though. They had a hard time figuring out how to return my online order and did a good job at not giving up! Thanks for that borders!

Hmmm… just because several locations are closing down does not mean for Ward location to look unkempt as well as customer service (looking pointedly at Ivan) in not inquiring if I am a part of the Borders Member Plus program.
As I am sitting here, there is rubbish (see picture). In addition, there is a clerk just passing by to and fro as she puts away books not stopping to pick up the discard rubbish that is next to the chair besides me.
Borders Mgmt Team, I am sorely disappointed that you are shutting down certain locations on the island of Oahu. However, with the way the economy is going. I am not surprised.
You were one of the first stores that introduced us to listening to the music on headphones before we decided on purchasing.
You were the store that I pre-​ordered my Harry Potter books as well as purchasing my many half-​written journals that is so pretty.
You were the book store that I could find my military history books too.
Although iBooks and Kindle are becoming a trend, I would have remained a big fan and I still will be a fan! However, Ward Team… let’s not be lax in upkeeping as well as customer service!

Oh Borders. I hope you don’t slowly disappear in our age of technology where people are opting for iPads and Kindles. Because I really do like to hold a good book or a magazine and browse random pages of my liking before I decide to buy. So what if I hardly ever read? When I feel like I’ve found a good book, I buy it. That’ll never happen with an electronic reader. So what if I have 7 unread books since 2003 and 4 more half read books that just sit on my bookshelf because one day I’ll get around to them? I really hope you don’t become another thing of the past like Tower Records once was. I’m rooting for you.

Huge two level bookstore with lots of local music (hawaiian, jawaiian, reggae) available. We spent a good amount of time here. I like the selection of diverse language books. I bought one «Tagalog» book (not easy to find on the mainland unless you are in an area with a huge asian population). Yeah, I can find some at Barnes & Noble back home, but the variety is not on the same level, is what I am trying to convey. There is a large selection of bargain books to boot.
From the time I was a child/​teen, I enjoyed books and libraries (love reading), and I enjoy large bookstores. This one is probably the best one on the island, in terms of size, selection, and availability. The seating is nice too. You can decide which one you really want to buy. Also has a coffee shop, too. The one in Waikiki is tiny.

FIVE STARS for Border’s Books!!! I went here looking for some ukulele books (since I got such bad customer service from Goodguys on Kapahulu), and the salespeople and selection of products here were OUTSTANDING!
I asked for help by one very sweet and friendly lady (Marlene? Melissa? Sorry — I forgot your name, but you worked upstairs by the parking lot entrance). She was very helpful and personally showed me the selections of books and videos that matched the description that I was asking for. She even helped me peruse thru the books to find exactly what I need! What GREAT service!
This place has excellent selection of Hawaiian music!
Note: Join the Border’s club, then join the Plus program that they have, so you can get 10% additional discount (only cost $ 8.00 to join now, regularly about $ 20). Sooo worth the money if you purchase books, magazines, or music from this place!
I walked away from my purchase knowing that there ARE people out there who genuinely enjoy working in sales and have a good attitude about it! MAHALO!

I’m relieved to see that not all bookstores are doing Starbucks. :) I only recently in the last few years started frequenting this Borders more (after Ala Moana decided to go with Barnes & Noble instead of a smaller more local chain) just to balance out with how much time I spend at B&N. This place has a balcony seating area for Seattle’s Best Coffee where you can check out Ala Moana Blvd and part of Ala Moana beach park. Come here at night on a weeknight to grab good seating/​space.
I love all bookstores but I enjoy Borders because of their stationery section… they carry a line from Paperchase, which is a store I ADORE! :) I always make an effort to avoid this section or else my wallet will deflate like no one’s business.

what: the place for book lovers!
something good: my all time favorite bookstore! i love how comfy this bookstore feels, it’s so bright and roomy and if you can find a corner, you can sit and browse through a book for awhile without getting bothered: D ! even though i read everything electronically, i still come in to browse for books and i even found tons of things for gifts in here! ooooh, and the lady who always rings me up is so kind and nice, i think her name was gerry :)
something not so good: nothing at all really~
something to try: a book or the cute things in the stationary section

Two story bookstore with a small coffee shop, overlooking Ala Moana Beach Park (
). It even has a nice outdoor veranda to sit on, although seating always seems quite limited (for good reason).
Jammed into the far corner of Ward Center, it’s clean and comes off as a bit homey actually, even though it’s quite large. Maybe because of the building it sits in, but sometimes I find it hard to find the section I’m looking for. Bonus points for not yelling at me for sitting and perusing on the floor like the Ala Moana Barnes and Nobles (especially after they removed all the seating). There rarely seems to he a hustle and bustle (except when they have events) and the lines are always expedited quickly.
Parking for this place can either be found in the Ward Center Parking garage (where you can almost walk right in on the second floor) or sometime on the other side of the store, in the parking lot of the adjacent building.

OH: It was a 2-​star day for me, indeed. :-D I’m a firm believer that everything in life tends to happen for a reason. Not sure what the universe was trying to tell me today… maybe it’s that I should have just stayed home.
REAL BOOKS: Ventured over to Borders to pick up a copy of one of my most favorite books for a friend’s upcoming birthday. Yeah, I could have just given her an Apple giftcard, so she could buy something from ibooks… BUT…being the once-​upon-​another-​lifetime idealistic lit major… I can’t escape hard copies of the classics.
OR SO I THOUGHT…
A BRIEF COVERSATION:
Me: «Do you have any copies of Breakfast at Tiffany’s in backstock? I couldn’t find any on the shelf.»
Salesperson: «Oh, you should try looking upstairs… in the DVD section.»
Me: «Huh? I checked down here, in the literature section. Wouldn’t it be under „C“, by Author?»
[crickets]
Salesperson: «We have all the movies in the DVD section upstairs… you should try looking up there.»
WTF: Yeah, it was my «moment»…I tried not to be snarky about it. I ended up heading to Ala Moana to buy a gift card from the mac store.

MMMM this borders is pretty much my favorite. I like sitting down looking through tattoo magazines and what not. I love their spread of manga. The only time I really buy anything from Borders is when they come out with a new Janet Evanovich or something. They’re always on it when it comes to new best-​sellers. I like how this Borders is really big, too. Their sections are extensive, and I always find more than what I need when I browse. I’ve found some pretty good authors thanks to this Borders.
This is definitely the place to go when I need to study also. Seattles Best :)

Since Tower Records went bust a couple years ago, CD and DVD buying has changed dramatically in Hawaii. Tower had the best selection in the state. Even though the prices were not the best, it was the most likely place to go to find a certain title you were looking for without resorting to Amazon. With Tower gone, the best music and video retailer has fallen to Borders.
Sure there is Best Buy, Walmart and Target now, but they do not specialize in this fading business. It is kind of part of their repertoire, but they know the real money are in other products they sell. With Borders, the mainstay is on media products.
The location on Ala Moana was the first and still the best. There are two floors, with periodicals, fiction and children’s titles taking up space downstairs and nonfiction, music and video upstairs. As with other Border locations, there appears to be some cutbacks on selections but it is still well stocked. In particular, their Hawaiian music section is the best in the islands.
There is also a nice upstairs café area serving coffee drinks and food items with a decent view of Ala Moana Boulevard and Ala Moana Beach. I am typically hypercritical of Borders locations in Washington, but I praise the selection here because there are really not that many options. It is pretty much Borders or B&N. Borders is pretty much the main reason to visit Ward Centre.

It’s nice to have someplace to go to chill after eating or drinking, and right there at Ward Center, you have a reasonable place to go!
It is pretty cold when you get inside, but if you go upstairs to the Seattle’s Best Café area, there’s an indoor section and outdoor lanai where you can sit, relax, read a magazine, while sipping your latte and nibbling on your scone.
There’s free wi-​fi here and a good magazine selection. I like coming here to relax. The downside? Lots of other people like it, too.

Well, the saga is over — I received the 2^nd part of the order today ¹¹⁄₁₈. So my order was completed in 19 days. Because the order was over $ 25 the shipping was free. But goodness, it was not worth waiting 19 days when I could have drove my lazy butt over to Borders myself. One good thing is that you can put in those coupon codes online into your order so I got 40% off one book. Anyway, stick with just buying at the store itself unless time is no factor.

VERY VERY VERY good selection of hawaiian books. Especially loved the children’s books… can’t get that no where else…
They also have very cute hawaiian themed office supply things. I’m addicted