Flashbacks:
The RNGC Caddyshackpocalypse
Bollards!
dreck retail opportunities: a purveyor of plastic containers in which to store all our various plastic crap. We hope you took advantage of the store's final days to "stock up" on books and cute anime keychains and "Nooks," whatever those are, since there is now no other possible way to obtain a book anywhere, except maybe for spending $5.50 for a round-trip jaunt down the Toll Road to Tysons, or maybe driving to Fair Lakes for free (scratch that -- you'd have to pay us well north of $5.50 to voluntarily travel to Fair Lakes under any circumstances).
Actually, we're just as bummed as everyone else about this. Our BFFs at Patch posted some photos of the all-but-emptied-out bookstore earlier this week, which have the same sort of disaster tourism feel as this.
But! There is a bright side! No pesky books to feel obliged to buy means more time to read stupid "web logs" like this one, maybe even while enjoying a latte at the Starbucks (which will remain open, giving the underemployed and overcaffeinated a birds-eye view of construction on the Container Store, which will apparently open sometime this fall -- just how long does it take to put up a bunch of shelves and stick plastic boxes on them, anyway?)
Speaking of which, we hope they erect a piece of public art in front of the new store when it opens to honor the Spectrum's past and its future, at least until it too falls to the wrecking ball for more of the usual bollardy goodness.
A sad day for Reston. Maybe a smaller, independent bookstore can make a go of it.
ReplyDeleteBecause a giant retailer can't compete with Amazon, but a smaller independent store can?
DeleteIt's still possible to obtain a book in Reston, albeit not a brand-spanking-new one: Reston's Used Book Shop just celebrated its 35th anniversary of doing business at Lake Anne Center. It's well organized, well stocked, and welcoming.
ReplyDeleteHey, newsflash: You can still borrow books for FREE from the Reston Regional Library.
ReplyDeleteOr, for that matter, buy them during one of the library's book sales (agoraphobes need not apply).
Deletewtf will we do with all these goddamn containers. can't store my books in them anymore.
ReplyDeleteWhat size plastic boxes do you need for storing failed dreams?
ReplyDeleteAnd what about hat boxes for my tinfoil beanies? Do they sell those?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!
DeletePlease check Aisle 3, Convict! We are certain to have your size in stock.
Nothing wrong with going to Fair Lakes/Fair Oaks for anything at all. Get over it. The bookstore is gone and it is B&N's own fault for not having a stronger business model. The landlord gets to select its own future tenants. Stop whining, reston!
ReplyDeleteJava Master: B&N didn't fail - it's NOT their fault. The building's owners wanted a Container Store to go in there, so they refused to renew B&N's lease even when B&N offered to pay a higher rent!
ReplyDelete(temper tantrum) no,no no! I want my bookstore or else!
DeleteSorry, the landlord gets to choose its own tenants, for its own reasons. It's a business decision, pure and simple, and the landlord calls the tune. Sorry that B&N is a casualty in all of this, but that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes.
I was in there before the close and felt very sad. My kids loved to go there and play with the train set and look at the books. It was a fun place to go on a cold winter day. Many people thought what Java Master thought, but the sales clerks said it was one of the best selling stores. They were forced to close.
ReplyDeleteThey were forced to close because they lost their lease. It was a wonderful store, with helpful, friendly staff, and a good children's section which this grandmother misses.
ReplyDeleteIt is a reflection of the evermore functional illiteracy that plagues the USA! To think that an "affluent" town like Reston cannot support a bookstore is sad indeed! Philip Roth was so right when he lamented that all too soon...Americans will not read books. Roth observes that readers of book are becoming a cult...a small cult indeed. And of all of the idiotic concepts and waste of space...a container store...what the H is that? Are there not enough containers already at hand? Storage is BIG business in the USA where the sheep CONtinue to CONsume and then must pay for storage to make room for more junk. And the American sheep CONtinue to follow the piper to their own slaughter...
ReplyDeleteBooks will continue to exist even after these revolutionary changes ie Internet and facts of retail industry...Just like movie theaters are still well and alive after DVDs and Netflix? We need and love books and bookstores. I hope/wish Barnes and Nobles opens in another location in Reston.
ReplyDelete