The Number of the Beast (Borders Edition)

Back in the 1990s, the number of the beast when it came to Borders was 10. That was the designation of the Rockville, Maryland store, especially after it moved to White Flint Mall. The store was the top-selling in the entire company for some years and even when it had been surpassed by others was still an amazingly busy and in many ways simply amazing place to shop for many years to come. It's where my wife was working when I first met her, and she's just the most obvious example of the many good friends I made through Borders who worked at "the beast".

All of that made it a little sad to see the doors closed and the sign absent when I walked through White Flint earlier today. As with most Borders, the store had ceased to be an amazing place to shop for books and music (let alone video) some time ago. The closing just made it official.

Thankfully, the closing doesn't mean anything in terms of the friends I've made. I get to keep them and to be honest I think I've gotten the better part of the deal. Sure I miss the employee discount, but the now-routine 40% coupons I get e-mailed from Borders Rewards offset that, and the benefit of Beth, Sean, Michael and all the great people I've come to know through them is beyond measure. Still, it's a shame the management of Borders had to screw things up so badly. Someone should write a book about it.