| | Charleston gets a bookstore, why can't we?November 1, 2011 - Amy PhelpsCoworker Michael Erb alerted me to the fact that the Charleston Town Center has officially replaced their closed down Borders Express with a Books-A-Million. It took no time at all for them to get in a new bookstore and is already open. Meanwhile our former Borders remains closed with no word about any replacement whatsoever. So now there are not one, but TWO bookstores in Charleston that the people of the Mid-Ohio Valley will ONLY have to drive roughly an hour or so to if they want to buy books! Yay! Sarcasm aside, why is it Charleston has no problems at all opening two of the same franchise bookstores while the holiday season approaches and there is not even a rumor that our area will ever get ONE? It seemed like there was never a time that I wasn't at our Borders that it wasn't busy. Business seemed to be good. And considering there is absolutely no competing bookstores anywhere near us, it would seem our area would be a prime candidate for a Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, etc. With several colleges nearby, one might think a bookstore would do well. Considering there is a quite a large area surrounding us that would rather drive here than to go to a major city like Charleston or Columbus to buy books, one might think a bookstore would do well. I have known too many people that have said they are not going online to buy books and have no interest in ereaders. There are too many kids who have to wait for school book fairs or stumble across the few titles and authors available at the local discount store. This area has plenty of bars, restaurants, gas stations and pharmacies. It's pretty sad when we can't get one bookstore.
Article Comments(3)letsgoeersNov-30-11 6:04 PM Bookstores are great but they can be counter-productive. We should be encouraging our kids to study and get their schoolwork done. A bookstore would be an unneeded distraction, as if they need more of those. Kendall78Nov-03-11 1:57 PM Barnes & Noble bought up what was left of Borders. It would make sense they would come on in. Though it could be that the old Border's store is just too big and expensive to justify the costs of moving in. After all, the book store world is still hurting and in decline. GaryMagNov-03-11 8:45 AM Great question Amy! I have often wondered why we haven’t a lot of specific types of businesses in the MOV. Look at our restaurant selection when compared to other places. What about consumer electronics? We are given Sears and Walmart. Obviously the state capital has a larger population and more attraction but let us consider Wheeling for instance they have a Best Buy and Target as does Charleston. Parkersburg and its surrounding areas have shown a negative decline in population since 1990. It’s likely our declining population and economy is the major contributing factor in our areas lack of specific businesses. Charleston and Wheeling actually show a growing population and economy. Yes, we have many bars restaurants and gas stations. But there needs to be a strategy by those in charge of economic development to attract more business and people into the MOV area. Without that, I am afraid we will see even more business shut the doors around the area. Wheeling has in i Post a Comment | in: News, Blogs & Events Web  Blog Links |
