While the rest of the country experiences extremely high temperatures, here in Seattle is was a cool 68 degrees at the hottest part of the day today, July 21, 2011.
During a rainy part of the day we headed to Borders Bookstore with our giftcards in hand to make sure we used up all of them before the store closes their doors. Borders announced earlier this week that they are liquidating their inventory. The kids receive Borders gift cards from their Kumon classes for a job well done, plus birthdays and I always keep a few on hand for end of the year teacher gifts, and I had one left over this year: because ironically, I decided to give an Amazon gift card instead.
The Redmond Town Center store was packed with people today, more than I have ever seen in the summer, it was like early Christmas shopping. Lots of employees buzzing about, shelves becoming cleared off; the local artist work that usually hangs on the center staircase wall was gone and what was left, was just the hooks.
This was the bookstore I found myself most often when I was pregnant, and later when we had a couple of babies and a toddler. We went to story time on many occations at this store and I am sad to say, I will miss it. I have met friends there for coffee and have used their free wi-fi for my computer, as well as spent countless hours perusing books and purchasing gifts. Today, each of the kids got a book, plus a couple of calendars and a small stuffed animal as well.
So, if you have any gift cards, now is the time to use them, either at the store or use online. Although, I have never purchased using their website, I noticed, by just doing research for this post, it might have been their downfall: you cannot search for anything.
So long Borders! Thanks for the memories.
