Borderlands Books in SF announces closure, cites minimum wage increase

[benz380]

When San Francisco voters approved a minimum wage increase in the November election, Mayor Ed Lee sent what he called a loud and clear message to the nation: “We can give a well-deserved raise to our lowest-wage workers, and we can do it in a way that protects jobs and small business.”
Yet a month after the initial phase of the increase took effect, Borderlands Books became the first business Sunday to cite The City’s higher minimum wage as the catalyst for its closure.
The Valencia Street bookstore expects to clear its shelves and lay off employees by the end of March after struggling to compete with online book sales and a national shift to electronic readers, owner Alan Beatts said.

http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/borderlands-books-in-sf-announces-closure-cites-minimum-wage-increase/Content?oid=2918723

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

1. What a HORRIBLE thing for these people to do to society...Take our money, profit off of us

and because they cant compete with online sellers they BLAME the workers, this INFURIATES me

So if you could pay your employees $2 an hour, you could stay in business?

[ND-Dem]

2. the horrible thing, actually, is the government giving tax and other advantages to online

sellers (amazon, specifically) to allow them to drive others out of business.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

3. I agree with that, but to blame wages? HORRIBLE message

So what is the sweet spot, $4 an hour?

Yes, the reasons they are going out of business have NOTHING to do with wages but do have to do with unfair competition

[ND-Dem]

6. Yes, it does, when you have tight profit margins and you're a very small independent.

Which Borderlands is. It's a storefront.

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--0PTUAnc_--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/xlskyabhwxvs2vzioi80.jpg

here's what they said about it:

Throughout the years we've managed to plan for the problems that we could predict and, when we couldn't plan for them, we've just worked our asses off to get through. Overall, Borderlands has managed to defeat every problem that has come our way. At the beginning of 2014, the future of the business looked, if not rosy, at least stable and very positive. We were not in debt, sales were meeting expenses and even allowing a small profit, and, perhaps most importantly, the staff and procedures at both the bookstore and the cafe were well established and working smoothly.

So it fills us with sorrow and horror to say that we will be closing very soon.

In November, San Francisco voters overwhelmingly passed a measure that will increase the minimum wage within the city to $15 per hour by 2018. Although all of us at Borderlands support the concept of a living wage in principal and we believe that it's possible that the new law will be good for San Francisco — Borderlands Books as it exists is not a financially viable business if subject to that minimum wage. Consequently we will be closing our doors no later than March 31st.

Many businesses can make adjustments to allow for increased wages. The cafe side of Borderlands, for example, should have no difficulty at all. Viability is simply a matter of increasing prices. And, since all the other cafes in the city will be under the same pressure, all the prices will float upwards. But books are a special case because the price is set by the publisher and printed on the book. Furthermore, for years part of the challenge for brick-and-mortar bookstores is that companies like Amazon.com have made it difficult to get people to pay retail prices. So it is inconceivable to adjust our prices upwards to cover increased wages.0

The change in minimum wage will mean our payroll will increase roughly 39%. That increase will in turn bring up our total operating expenses by 18%. To make up for that expense, we would need to increase our sales by a minimum of 20%. We do not believe that is a realistic possibility for a bookstore in San Francisco at this time.

http://io9.com/san-franciscos-science-fiction-bookstore-borderlands-1683307195

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

60. I think that's a fair statement.

He rightly identifies the problem as being a structural one with how books are priced and sold, and the way they can be undercut by megacorporations that have no physical presence but simply sell online. Not a problem with the wages of employees.

[catrose]

62. Right

Another paragraph mentions a 100% rent increase that caused them to move to Valencia Street. They don't say how the new rent compared to their old rent, but I'm much more inclined to shake my fist at greedy SF landlords.

[jollyreaper2112]

83. Agenda

Child dies an hour after being vaccinated! Vaccines are dangerous! Also, there was a car crash.

[arcane1]

8. Exactly. And it doesn't sound like they were doing all that great in the first place:

"Last year was Borderlands best year for business, with sales “even allowing a small profit.” Beatts was able to pay himself $28,000 and employ six people."

[ND-Dem]

16. wow. the big capitalist paid himself $28K, $13 an hour. Less than the new SF minimum wage.

And he employed 6 people at the old minimum wage of $11.05.

[suffragette]

51. The minimum wage is being transitioned in. $15 won't be in effect until 2018

http://sfgsa.org/index.aspx?page=411

Effective Date
Minimum Wage Rate
1/1/2015
$11.05
5/1/2015
$12.25
7/1/2016
$13.00
7/1/2017
$14.00
7/1/2018
$15.00
July 1st Each Following Year

[ND-Dem]

64. So what? You don't see to understand the root problem, and it's not because he has a failed

business model, it's not because he's some evil capitalist.

And it's not because the minimum wage in SF is going into effect too fast.

[hughee99]

5. Businesses that can't compete don't make money. I don't doubt he can't compete

with online sellers based out of state that pay their workers much less and have far greater volume. Is the "right thing to do" to keep the business open until he runs out of money?

[kiva]

7. I don't see that they are blaming the workers.

They are realistically saying that they cannot raise the price of their products, they have already moved for cheaper rent, and they do not see any way that they will be able to increase sales sufficiently to cover another raise in business costs.

Given that they are planning to keep the coffee shop open since they can control the prices they charge for items, I suspect the main problem they see is that they have no control over the money they charge for books and other printed material.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

10. Of course they are, the main reasons they cant compete is NOT paying someone an extra $3 an hour

The main reasons have to do with unfair competition, or fair competition depending on your political view.

What amount would make them profitable, $3 an hour?

[ND-Dem]

18. They were just barely profitable paying their workers $11.05 an hour, which was about $2

less than the owner made.

Your hyperbole is counter factual.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

20. tell it to this guy - tell him he is full of shit, be my guest

[ND-Dem]

25. I already answered that. And the owner was already paying more than $11 an hour to 6 workers.

$15 an hour would have been more than he paid himself.

But Amazon thanks you using FDR in support of monopolists.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

29. How did you answer that? So YOU are the one who cares about unfair competition

but somehow are for paying people less than a living wage?

[ND-Dem]

35. he was paying $11.05 an hour, more than the $11 demanded on your poster, and only $1.95

less than he paid himself. He didn't even pay himself $15.

Here's his statement. Try reading it this time:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6173641

[dionysus]

80. you're talking to a brick wall. apparently this guy should run his store as a non profit

despite the fact his store isn't making any money.
using a small book store owner as the villain of capitalism has to be the dumbest shit I have seen here in quite some time..

[ND-Dem]

94. agreed.

[snooper2]

31. does he have a facebook page?

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

34. Is that all you have to add to this discussion?

[snooper2]

39. For this discussion yes, everyone else already posted the relevant information

You are ignoring those posts of course...

The fucking OWNER is making less than the minimum wage increase. Maybe we should dig deeper...is his wife making 240K a year? If so maybe he should just work for free and give his employees the $15 an hour.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

41. I ignored nothing, I have discussed all the points as to this issue, me thinks you just have

a problem with me.

[snooper2]

45. nope, just responding to posts and eating a bagel LOL

[benz380]

53. Did you pay a bagel-slicing tax on that thing?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/03/31/odd-state-tax-laws/1951911/

[snooper2]

55. That is now the dumbest thing I have read this year so far LOL

No, mine was free vendor brought them in

[hughee99]

63. It sounds like the owner is saying he can't keep his business open without paying

lower wages, and because of the increase, he's going to close his business... just like FDR said he should. FDR, I guess, would have been in favor of this guy going out of business and firing his workers.

[ND-Dem]

68. yeah, i'm sure fdr would have supported amazon's monopoly position, supported by no taxes and

the ability not to station labor in high wage areas like SF, while still taking most of the market share in those areas.

Yeah, fdr would have loved it.

[kiva]

43. I support raising the minimum wage.

I believe it is one way to improve our national economy, but it is foolish to pretend that it will not impact business like this one that had barely been managing a profit. There are many small businesses that are marginal, businesses where one change - a raise in the cost of goods, a shift in the neighborhood demographics, a raise in insurance - can wipe out any profits.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

44. You dont blame a living wage, it is that simple. The many reasons he is going out of

business need to be discussed, not the living wage.

[kiva]

50. I reread the article.

He's blaming a lot of things. You can complain about the headline - they are often bad - but in the article the owner is simply adding the increased cost to a list of other things, he's not ranting about paying people more money.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

52. And it is $15 an hour by 2018, not tomorrow

[kiva]

54. In May the minimum goes up over $1 per hour,

so a pretty immediate change. Given that the owner has figured out how much he would need to increase sales I'm assuming he has calculated the difference it would make for his business.

We're on the same side here - I support increasing the minimum wage - but I recognize it will come at a cost to some people...change does that.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

56. The headline should say "Huge corporation puts another small business out into the street"

Nowhere in the headline OR the story should an extra $1 an hour even come up.

AT WORST it could be mentioned as one of a long list of reasons, by NO means the main reason or anywhere near that.

I am teling you, this and other like this are gonna hurt us.

Just wait until the exemption of ACA is over and this kicks in

http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-small-business/

While the majority of employers and employees won’t pay any additional taxes under the ACA, there is an increase to the current Medicare part A tax for businesses and employees making over $200,000. There is also a requirement for employers with 50 full-time equivalent employees or more to offer health insurance to full-time workers or pay a penalty starting in 2015 / 2016.

We are all going to be told this is killing business, forcing people to lose their jobs, etc. Just like the living wage issue.

It is coming and very soon, to a rightwing asshole near you...

[kiva]

58. What we have here is a philosophical difference.

You think that any criticism of progressive policies will be used by the right as a weapon. I think that pretending that policies do not come without costs does not help us in the long run. We could both be right.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

59. Yeah but the problem of wage exists because we have allowed capitalists and oligarchs

to dictate everything.

There is NO cost to paying people a living wage unless the system you are in is so corrupt, so backwards, so upside down that it then appears to be a cost.

[kiva]

61. Of course there is a cost to paying for labor,

even if you pay them poorly - that's why it's considered one of the costs of doing business. You can argue all you like about the corruption of the system and I will largely agree, but please stop pretending that labor costs do nothing to a business' bottom line...it doesn't advance our argument by denying that fact.

[Art_from_Ark]

85. Starting in May, he would have to pay each worker $1.20 more per hour

However, due to the employer's share of the Social Security and Medicare taxes, that would actually be more than $1.30 per hour out of his own pocket. So, assuming $1.30 X 6 employees X 40 hours, it would work out to $312 extra per week X 52 = $16244 extra per year that he would have to pay. If he paid himself $28,000 during a good year, and assuming that this year would be just like last year, he would end up paying himself less than $1000 a month, and he is talking all the financial risk, while his employees would be making twice that while taking no financial risk. Having been involved in a very marginal small business myself at one time, if I were the owner, I would either have to sack one employee and try to hang on for the year, or just chuck it all because it wasn't worth the financial risk I would be taking.

[ND-Dem]

69. In this case, there *is* a cost, and yes, the system is corrupt and backwards and unless you

want everything to be run by big monopoly capital, it's a cost, not the 'appearance' of a cost.

The little guy's competition, amazon, doesn't have to hire ANY $15/hr workers in SF. He also doesn't have to pay any taxes in SF to support the higher wage.

Yet he can easily take most of the market share for books in SF.

Yet according to your paradigm, this is a GOOD thing.

But it's not a good thing, unless you like monopoly and monoculture, and slave workers.

[ND-Dem]

65. It doesn't hurt his competition at all though. Amazon doesn't have to pay $15 an hour and in fact

can move to wherever it can get workers cheapest.

It also doesn't have to pay sales tax.

It's almost like it was being given breaks so it could monopolize sales and distribution of books.

[hack89]

14. The owner paid himself $28,000 last year - after their best year ever.

he is not blaming the workers - he just can't see a way to increase sales enough to stay in the black.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

30. You DONT claim the REASON is the wages when that is NOT the reason, it may be the final

straw but it is NOT the reason


p.s. I am not saying he did this, but owners of businesses pay themselves as little as possible usually, for tax reasons. They take the money out other ways.

[hack89]

37. There is the fact that he would still be in business if the minimum wage remained the same.

I support the higher minimum wage but I think it was a given that it would force some businesses to shut their doors. It was rightfully decided that there would be a net gain for the community through higher worker salaries. But there were certainly going to be losers like this guy.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

40. I think you could make some exceptions for maybe $13 vs $15 in certain situations

as to small business.

But big business would eventually figure out a way to game that also.

My problem with this is they blame wages when there are MANY other reasons, and this is EXACTLY the garbage righty will use to push ALL of us FURTHER down

[ND-Dem]

67. and amazon doesn't have to employ *anyone* in san francisco, but can still take the biggest

share of its book market.

amazon also doesn't have to pay business taxes to san Francisco. or sales taxes.

[ND-Dem]

89. Yeah, he's making the big bucks at a storefront sci-fi bookstore and probably robbing the till too.

Do you understand how stupid that sounds?

You don't seem to have any problem with the Monopolist Amazon, who doesn't even have to pay any employees, or taxes, in SF but can nonetheless take most of the market share there.

But you're all over this thread calling out a guy who runs a storefront bookstore, which, like most such stores, are dying.

And monopolists like Amazon, which can shift labor anywhere in the country, taking advantage of where the cost is low, and who also don't have to pay taxes thanks to a special deal for the internetz. are a big part of the reason.

But you don't seem to care about that at all.

[ND-Dem]

66. That person has a "blame the management" script that they won't deviate from, which in this

case is a completely inappropriate script.

[dionysus]

78. i wouldn't get too fired up using this book store as an example. mom and pop

book stores, music stores, even things like gun stores have high overhead and can't compete with prices against the conglomerate chains.

a book store nowadays has to have one of the slimmest profit margins around. the owner fo the book store even said;

“Overall I think [the minimum wage increase] may be very good for San Francisco,” said Beatts. “We’re a subset of a subset that are having negative effects from this.”

[arcane1]

4. "struggling to compete with online book sales and a national shift to electronic readers"

But let's blame it on a livable wage

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

12. Exactly, and not only do these employees lose their job but rightwing TERRORISTS

now get to use that statement against working people all over the country

[hack89]

19. He is really blaming it on an inability to increase sales enough to cover increased costs.

the owner paid himself $28,000 last year after their best year ever so it appears that there is not a lot of money in a book store. Odds are he would have gone out of business sooner rather than later even if the minimum wage had not gone up.

[arcane1]

21. Agreed. This certainly doesn't set an example like the article seems to imply.

[hack89]

27. I think it was a given that an increased minimum wage would shut down some businesses

but that there would be a net gain to the community in general as workers had more money to spend.

[arcane1]

28. Yep, and that the lost jobs weren't really all that great anyway n/t

[Dreamer Tatum]

32. I'm sure that's what the newly-fired are saying right this moment. nt

[arcane1]

48. Yeah, probably not :(

[ND-Dem]

38. I'd love to work in a bookstore, personally. But slave work at Amazon is now almost the only

option in that line.

Thanks!

[arcane1]

49. Same here! One with used books and a cat.

There's one on Gough St that would be fun to work in

[ND-Dem]

70. yes. i love bookstores with pets and comfy chairs. almost a vanishing culture.

[dionysus]

81. it's sad that in todays world, with everything available onlone, small book and

music stores just can't compete a lot of the time.

and the people working there aren't doing it off the big bucks, obviously, it's because they are cool places to work at...

sores with small profit margins like that are usually labours of love.. I belive the article said last year the owner paid himself 28k. in SF. that's breadline wages.

[displacedtexan]

88. Green Apple Books on Clement St. Has opened another store in The Sunset.

They are thriving, and they even saved the video store on 9th Ave in the Sunset by joining them in that location. Lots of vintage videos, tons of books (new & old), and many book signings and other events.
Frankly, I live here and I've never heard of Borderlands.

[ND-Dem]

100. Maybe you don't like sci-fi.

We only sell Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery and Horror. We would love to sell all kinds of books but we only have so much room. If we sold all kinds of books we could only be a good bookstore. By limiting ourselves we can be a great bookstore...The store has been mentioned by AAA's travel magazine VIA, Gourmet Magazine, and the Washington Post. Borderlands currently stocks nearly 30,000 titles. The store continues to expand and today is regarded as one of the premier genre bookstores in the country.

http://www.borderlands-books.com/about.html
http://www.borderlands-books.com/about_history.html


Many businesses can make adjustments to allow for increased wages. The cafe side of Borderlands, for example, should have no difficulty at all. Viability is simply a matter of increasing prices. And, since all the other cafes in the city will be under the same pressure, all the prices will float upwards.

But books are a special case because the price is set by the publisher and printed on the book. Furthermore, for years part of the challenge for brick-and-mortar bookstores is that companies like Amazon.com have made it difficult to get people to pay retail prices. So it is inconceivable to adjust our prices upwards to cover increased wages.

The change in minimum wage will mean our payroll will increase roughly 39%. That increase will in turn bring up our total operating expenses by 18%. To make up for that expense, we would need to increase our sales by a minimum of 20%. We do not believe that is a realistic possibility for a bookstore in San Francisco at this time.

The other obvious alternative to increasing sales would be to decrease expenses. The only way to accomplish the amount of savings needed would be to reduce our staff to: the current management (Alan Beatts and Jude Feldman), and one other part-time employee.

Alan would need to take over most of Jude's administrative responsibilities and Jude would work the counter five to six days per week. Taking all those steps would allow management to increase their work hours by 50-75% while continuing to make roughly the same modest amount that they make now (by way of example, Alan's salary was $28,000 last year). That's not an option for obvious reasons and for at least one less obvious one -- at the planned minimum wage in 2018, either of them would earn more than their current salary working only 40 hours per week at a much less demanding job that paid minimum wage.


http://www.borderlands-books.com/

[spanone]

9. if their profit margin was that slim, they would go out of business anyway.

the real reason: The Valencia Street bookstore expects to clear its shelves and lay off employees by the end of March after struggling to compete with online book sales and a national shift to electronic readers, owner Alan Beatts said.

[hack89]

22. Any increase in the minimum wage would drive some struggling stores out of business

I don't think anyone questioned that.

[ladjf]

33. Bingo! nt

[ND-Dem]

71. Yes. Amazon doesn't have to hire *any* workers in SF, or pay taxes to the city. Yet it can

still exercise a near-monopoly over the city's book business.

Victory of some kind, for someone, no doubt.

[RiverLover]

11. No business that depends for existence on paying less than a living wage to its workers

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

13. THANK YOU

[Iggo]

17. This. So much this.

[ND-Dem]

24. Except of course when you give special tax breaks to giant businesses so they can drive smaller

players out while moving labor around the country to the cheapest locations.

It really amazes me that all your ire is for a storefront bookseller who pays 6 workers $11.05 an hour and only makes about $13 an hour himself, as owner.

Yeah, he's the evil capitalist and amazon (slave labor, monopolist) has a great business model. it must be great, because amazon can pay SF minimum wage (and move operations if necessary to take advantage of lower wage locations)

[RiverLover]

15. This reminds me of the small DVD rental store in downtown Asheville closing

in 2013 and the owner blaming it on the homeless population.

It had NOTHING to do with red box and online streaming. Nope. Not at all.

[KamaAina]

23. Rents on Valencia Street have gone through the roof.

The Mission District is white-hot, because the g.d. Google buses go there.

The minimum wage may have been the last straw, but the high rent and "struggling to compete with online book sales and a national shift to electronic readers" would eventually have done the store in anyway.

[hunter]

26. Maybe he could have stayed in business if slavery was legal?

Unfortunately wage-slavery is legal in many places, which is just one of the reasons bookstores are closing.

E-books are another reason.

It's a pity the Examiner spun the article the way they did, like most media in the U.S.A. the Examiner is dependent upon the Big Corporate Right, but at least they ended with this:

“Overall I think <the minimum wage increase> may be very good for San Francisco,” said Beatts. “We’re a subset of a subset that are having negative effects from this.”

[ND-Dem]

47. He's already paying above minimum and barely pays himself more than his workers.

Last edited Wed Feb 4, 2015, 02:37 AM - Edit history (2)

Here's the competition. They don't have to hire a single worker in SF or pay SF taxes, yet they can nevertheless monopolize its book business. Aren't you glad you got rid of that nasty small businessman who pays his workers $11 and himself $13? And who actually knows books?

Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon’s sick brutality and secret history of ruthlessly intimidating workers

http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers/

SURRENDER TO THE BORG

[lpbk2713]

36. All they have to do is copy and paste earlier announcements from Blockbuster Video.

Surely they know they are going the way of the eight track tape and the Polaroid camera.

[ND-Dem]

72. SURRENDER TO THE BORG

[TreasonousBastard]

42. This is an unfair and misleading headline...

the owner mentions the wage increase, but that's hardly the reason for him closing down, as is obvious to anyone reading the article.

Hey, anyone here using Amazon, or linking to it-- YOU are the reason he's closing his doors.

[ND-Dem]

73. YEP.

[Dreamer Tatum]

46. The only people who make money off books are those who move volume.

That's how it's always been. Sad, but true.

[ND-Dem]

74. Everybody else does it for the love, and enough to live on. But that option is fast-disappearing.

[Comrade Grumpy]

57. This is a crying shame. Borderlands is the best sci-fi bookstore in the whole country.

[daredtowork]

75. Not So Fast

They are planning to hold a public meeting to "discuss alternatives to closure".

Borderlands is an iconic bookstore, and they are correct to cite the economic problems that doom bricks-and-mortar bookstores. Perhaps they are hoping for an "angel investor" like that mystery bookstore in Alaska just got. If I remember correctly, wasn't the Borderlands newsletter one of the first to sound the alarm on the long reach of Amazon's multiple monopolies as well?

*Googles*

Hmm, this is the article I was thinking of: http://hellnotes.com/amazon-is-nobodys-friend-part-one

Maybe, I first saw it posted at Borderlands?

Anyway, I think Beatts may have burned some good will by citing minimum wage rather than high rents as the final blow: that makes low-paid workers the bad guys. All I can think is that he is that the Sugar Daddy that he's angling for is one of those Libertarian Wingnuts of Silicon Valley who hate minimum wage. Hey, computer geeks love science fiction!

But then he may have to hope his customers have a short memory that he cast raising minimum wage as "bad for business"...

[ND-Dem]

87. Please back up your contention that he "cast minimum wage as bad for business". I don't

see him doing that at your link; I see him criticizing Amazon.

Which deserves all the criticism it could get, and more.


Second, I was talking to a few friends about Amazon and I realized that my opinion of them has shifted in the past ten years. When they started up, my attitude was very much live and let live. They had their business ideas and I had mine. I figured there was room enough for both of us. But, as I’ve watched them grow, seen their business choices and their effect on my field, I’ve come to the conclusion that they are not a positive influence on the business of words & stories. During that same conversation with my friends, I also realized that there is a long list of things that they’ve done and attitudes that they have that I think are pretty lousy, either because I think that they are not ethical or just not … nice. Once I considered the totality of my opinion about Amazon, I decided it was time to say something.

Bear in mind that I’ve made a considerable effort to look at Amazon from the standpoint of someone who loves books and reading. Though driven by ideas and opinions informed by my experience as a bookseller, what you’ll find below is not the ranting of a bookseller outraged at the competition. It is instead my complaints against Amazon as a reader and booklover.

Amazon has –

(A) Been a deceptive and pervasive influence on ecommerce.

(B) Consistently tried to eliminate other businesses to increase their hold on the book market.

(C) Engaged in pricing designed to cripple competition and manipulate its suppliers and customers

(D) Made avoiding sales tax a cardinal part of their business model.

(E) Chosen an ebook business model and format that’s bad for the consumer.

In addition, I just don’t believe that they play nicely or fairly, even by our admittedly lax standards of corporate citizenship. In many ways, Amazon is the very model of an unethical, ruthless corporation that cares about nothing other than growing and making a profit.

[dionysus]

76. and to po your bubble, the last line of that article, from the owner himself says...

“Overall I think [the minimum wage increase] may be very good for San Francisco,” said Beatts. “We’re a subset of a subset that are having negative effects from this.”

OP FAIL.

[benz380]

91. Op fail? i posted the first 3 paragraphs.

Don't think I'm allowed to post the entire story. And I never had a bubble to pop. Weird response.
Just a news story I found interesting.

[Ken Burch]

77. Those employees should have the chance to form a co-op to keep the store going by themselves.

This link could help them:

http://ncb.coop/

[dionysus]

82. If they're making just above minimum wage how could the 6 employees

do this?

I love old book and music stores but they run on a very tight margin unfortunately.

the conglomerates can out price em, and the rare gems lovers of the genres find aren't profitable or popular in the cut-throat world of business

there's an old music store back home I try to spend money at each time i'm home.. it's just the owner, he has no money to pay employees, it's a wonder he's been able to make it this long, poor guy

[NBachers]

79. Borderlands is right down the street from me- I've always been glad that they're there.

I'm sorry to see them go out of business.

[benz380]

84. Since he's keeping the coffee shop, he could sell a smaller quantity of books there.

Maybe specialize in just sci-fi books or something else? Then maybe he can one or two employees.

[ND-Dem]

86. he already specializes in sci-fi.

[6000eliot]

90. Pay your workers a living wage or give up.

It's that simple.

[ND-Dem]

93. Not that simple when monopoloists like amazon can shift labor cost to low-wage states or cities

while nevertheless able to take most of the market share in high-wage states and cities. and not pay taxes locally to boot.

but labor will love working for amazon! (though they won't be getting $15 an hour)


Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon’s sick brutality and secret history of ruthlessly intimidating workers

You might find your Prime membership morally indefensible after reading these stories about worker mistreatment

http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers/


I love it how the folks here expend so much venom on a small businessman who's already paying $11/hour and only pays himself about $1.95 more, while completely ignoring the elephant in the room.

[6000eliot]

96. It doesn't matter what others are doing.

It only matters what YOU are doing. Pay your workers a living wage or get out.

[ND-Dem]

99. LOL. Amazon doesn't have to pay ANY labor in San Francisco, or taxes either. And they

don't pay living wages.

Yet they pretty much control the book business.


Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon’s sick brutality and secret history of ruthlessly intimidating workers
You might find your Prime membership morally indefensible after reading these stories about worker mistreatment

http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers/


Yeah, giant corporations can work labor like slaves but it's a storefront bookdealer already paying his (tiny) staff $11 an hour while paying himself just $2 more who's the EVIL CAPITALIST here. Not this guy. We'll never hear you telling this pinhead to get out of business if he won't pay a living wage:




Jesus fucking Christ, No wonder labor's in trouble.

[6000eliot]

101. And this excuses other businesses from paying a living wage how exactly?

[ND-Dem]

103. The biggest competitor doesn't have to pay a living wage though, or taxes, and you're fine with

that. You blog for Bezos, or what?


In November, San Francisco voters overwhelmingly passed a measure that will increase the minimum wage within the city to $15 per hour by 2018. Although all of us at Borderlands support the concept of a living wage in principal and we believe that it's possible that the new law will be good for San Francisco -- Borderlands Books as it exists is not a financially viable business if subject to that minimum wage...

Many businesses can make adjustments to allow for increased wages. The cafe side of Borderlands, for example, should have no difficulty at all. Viability is simply a matter of increasing prices. And, since all the other cafes in the city will be under the same pressure, all the prices will float upwards.

But books are a special case because the price is set by the publisher and printed on the book. Furthermore, for years part of the challenge for brick-and-mortar bookstores is that companies like Amazon.com have made it difficult to get people to pay retail prices. So it is inconceivable to adjust our prices upwards to cover increased wages.

The change in minimum wage will mean our payroll will increase roughly 39%. That increase will in turn bring up our total operating expenses by 18%. To make up for that expense, we would need to increase our sales by a minimum of 20%. We do not believe that is a realistic possibility for a bookstore in San Francisco at this time.

The other obvious alternative to increasing sales would be to decrease expenses. The only way to accomplish the amount of savings needed would be to reduce our staff to: the current management (Alan Beatts and Jude Feldman), and one other part-time employee.

Alan would need to take over most of Jude's administrative responsibilities and Jude would work the counter five to six days per week.

Taking all those steps would allow management to increase their work hours by 50-75% while continuing to make roughly the same modest amount that they make now (by way of example, Alan's salary was $28,000 last year). That's not an option for obvious reasons and for at least one less obvious one -- at the planned minimum wage in 2018, either of them would earn more than their current salary working only 40 hours per week at a much less demanding job that paid minimum wage.

...So come in, give us your best wishes, and try to be cheerful. Everything changes and everything ends. We did a hell of a job for a long time and now it's time for us to do something else.

http://www.borderlands-books.com/

[6000eliot]

104. I don't care about Bezos.

Attack him for the wages he pays if you want. He and Amazon are irrelevant to the current argument, and his bad labor practices do not excuse anyone else's. Have I said it plainly enough? Pay your workers a living wage, or get out of business.

[ND-Dem]

105. Bezos DOESN'T pay his workers a living wage; not only that, he works them until they drop from

heatstroke, surveils them, steals their break time, and monitors them when they pee. And he doesn't pay them $15 an hour, even for all that.

That's how he made his $29 billion.

But you, you don't care about Bezos; you're concerned about the big evil capitalist who makes $13 dollars an hour while paying his workers $11, you friend of the working man, you.

You clearly don't know the book business at all. Amazon & Bezos are directly relevant to the current argument.

Many businesses can make adjustments to allow for increased wages. The cafe side of Borderlands, for example, should have no difficulty at all. Viability is simply a matter of increasing prices. And, since all the other cafes in the city will be under the same pressure, all the prices will float upwards. But books are a special case because the price is set by the publisher and printed on the book. Furthermore, for years part of the challenge for brick-and-mortar bookstores is that companies like Amazon.com have made it difficult to get people to pay retail prices. So it is inconceivable to adjust our prices upwards to cover increased wages.

The other obvious alternative to increasing sales would be to decrease expenses. The only way to accomplish the amount of savings needed would be to reduce our staff to: the current management (Alan Beatts and Jude Feldman), and one other part-time employee... Taking all those steps would allow management to increase their work hours by 50-75% while continuing to make roughly the same modest amount that they make now (by way of example, Alan's salary was $28,000 last year).

That's not an option for obvious reasons and for at least one less obvious one -- at the planned minimum wage in 2018, either of them would earn more than their current salary working only 40 hours per week at a much less demanding job that paid minimum wage.

http://www.borderlands-books.com/

[6000eliot]

106. I'm still not sure how this excuses the bookstore in the OP from paying their workers

a living wage.

[ND-Dem]

107. The owner doesn't pay himself a living wage either. The reason is Amazon. Sorry you're having

problems getting it.

[6000eliot]

109. It doesn't matter what Amazon does or what he pays himself.

If he is in business to make a profit, he has to pay his employees. If he is providing a public service, then he should see if he can get volunteers to help him. Otherwise, if he can't pay his employees a living wage, then he shouldn't be in business.

[ND-Dem]

114. He pays his employees. He pays them $11 an hour and pays himself $13. I guess he doesn't

pay himself a living wage either, and he's not made a profit most of the time he's been in business.

Bezos, on the other hand, is a billionaire; he got it by sweating labor and by government granted special breaks.

But you don't think it matters.

[KingCharlemagne]

92. Notice the store owners aren't calling for a national Guaranteed Annual Income (which would

fix the problem at the federal level). Instead, it's blame the workers. Typical petit bourgeois bullshit.

[ND-Dem]

95. If you read what the owner actually *said,* he didn't blame the workers. Do all you folks

have stock in Amazon, or what?

Yeah, they've got a *great* business model, one that allows them not to pay $15 an hour wages at all; one that allows them to source labor in the cheapest locations and source taxes to the lowest tax areas, while taking market share *everywhere* via their essentially government-granted monopoly power.

F**K amazon and its lackeys.

[KingCharlemagne]

98. Sorry, I was keying off this sentence in the OP:

Borderlands Books became the first business Sunday to cite The City’s higher minimum wage as the catalyst for its closure.

To answer your question, I do not own stock in Amazon (at least not directly, although my almost gone IRA mutual funds may hold some piddly-assed amount). FWIW, I bought shit from Amazon exactly once and haven't been back since. My wife and I just don't buy a lot of stuff.

It also appears I need to read the owners' comments directly before shooting from the hip. Mea culpa, eh?

[ND-Dem]

102. "In 18 years of business, Borderlands has faced a number of challenges.

The first and clearest was in 2000, when our landlord increased our rent by 100% and we had to move to our current location on Valencia Street. All of the subsequent ones have been less clear-cut but more difficult. The steady movement towards online shopping, mostly with Amazon, has taken a steady toll on bookstores throughout the world and Borderlands was no exception. After that and related to it, has been the shift towards ebooks and electronic reading devices. And finally the Great Recession of 2009 hit us very hard, especially since we had just opened a new aspect to the business in the form of our cafe.

But, through all those challenges, we've managed to find a way forward and 2014 was the best year we've ever had. The credit for that achievement goes to the fine and extraordinary group of people who have come together to work here. Their hard work, combined with the flawless execution and attention to detail provided by Jude Feldman, Borderlands' General Manager, is the reason we've succeeded for these past 18 years.

Throughout the years we've managed to plan for the problems that we could predict and, when we couldn't plan for them, we've just worked our asses off to get through...So it fills us with sorrow and horror to say that we will be closing very soon.

In November, San Francisco voters overwhelmingly passed a measure that will increase the minimum wage within the city to $15 per hour by 2018. Although all of us at Borderlands support the concept of a living wage in principal and we believe that it's possible that the new law will be good for San Francisco -- Borderlands Books as it exists is not a financially viable business if subject to that minimum wage. Consequently we will be closing our doors no later than March 31st.

Many businesses can make adjustments to allow for increased wages. The cafe side of Borderlands, for example, should have no difficulty at all. Viability is simply a matter of increasing prices. And, since all the other cafes in the city will be under the same pressure, all the prices will float upwards. But books are a special case because the price is set by the publisher and printed on the book. Furthermore, for years part of the challenge for brick-and-mortar bookstores is that companies like Amazon.com have made it difficult to get people to pay retail prices. So it is inconceivable to adjust our prices upwards to cover increased wages.

The change in minimum wage will mean our payroll will increase roughly 39%. That increase will in turn bring up our total operating expenses by 18%. To make up for that expense, we would need to increase our sales by a minimum of 20%. We do not believe that is a realistic possibility for a bookstore in San Francisco at this time.

The other obvious alternative to increasing sales would be to decrease expenses. The only way to accomplish the amount of savings needed would be to reduce our staff to: the current management (Alan Beatts and Jude Feldman), and one other part-time employee.

Alan would need to take over most of Jude's administrative responsibilities and Jude would work the counter five to six days per week.

Taking all those steps would allow management to increase their work hours by 50-75% while continuing to make roughly the same modest amount that they make now (by way of example, Alan's salary was $28,000 last year). That's not an option for obvious reasons and for at least one less obvious one -- at the planned minimum wage in 2018, either of them would earn more than their current salary working only 40 hours per week at a much less demanding job that paid minimum wage.

...So come in, give us your best wishes, and try to be cheerful. Everything changes and everything ends. We did a hell of a job for a long time and now it's time for us to do something else.

http://www.borderlands-books.com/

[dilby]

97. Who buys paper books anymore? They make these e-readers where you can have all your books in the

palm of your hand and no tree had to die for it. People should really come join the 21st century.

[ND-Dem]

108. People like Bezos are taking us back to the 19th century. As for your ereaders:

So, how many volumes do you need to read on your e-reader to break even?

With respect to fossil fuels, water use and mineral consumption, the impact of one e-reader payback equals roughly 40 to 50 books. When it comes to global warming, though, it’s 100 books; with human health consequences, it’s somewhere in between.

All in all, the most ecologically virtuous way to read a book starts by walking to your local library.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/04/04/opinion/04opchart.html

[Blue_Adept]

112. If it was just for books, sure

But even then, you get people like myself that have shifted from paper comics to digital comics, and that can mean quite a few each month.

And people that use them for more than just books. The scale of a 8 or 10" tablet compared to that of a 65" TV.

It's not like these are single use devices. More people use them as opposed to desktops or laptops as well than there used to be.

And frankly, I feel like I can justify it for one volume to break even for my needs in regards to storage alone, since I like having lots of things on hand for reference and the like.

Libraries are certainly good in many areas to be sure, but physical paper books do not enter my reading lifestyle at all for numerous reasons, whereas I read far more than I used to because of my tablet.

[dilby]

113. My kindle fire has replaced books, my laptop and my tv.

One little device that I have read hundreds of books on has become a go to for me for most of my entertainment, still use a TV for live TV and if I have a guest but I have not touched my laptop in over a year.

[quaker bill]

110. it is only one particular business

Bookstores have been closing all over the place for some time now. Amazon is just too tough to compete with for many, Raising wages can be the final straw for a business barely hanging in.

[krawhitham]

111. Something seems off

In 18 years of business "2014 was the best year we've ever had" and he only manages "sales were meeting expenses and even allowing a small profit"

So does that mean in this other 17 years he was running in the RED?

If 2014 was his best year every maybe he should see if the trend continues because so far he has only had to raise minimum wage by 31 cents. The store is only open 56 hours a week (Noon to 8pm seven days a week). He claims to have 6 employees total and 3 are full time, so worst case would be (3 X 40 X .31) + (3 X 30 X .31) is $65.10 more per week. If I was coming off my best year in 18 years I think I would give it more than 5 weeks to see if the tend continued and maybe the business could make an extra 65 bucks a week.

Does this guy pay everyone minimum wage? He has at least one employee who has been with him all 18 years, his General Manager Jude Feldman. It seems unreal that after 18 years he is still paying everyone minimum wage

In May he would have to raise wages to $12.25, assuming they started at $10.74 that would be a total increase of $1.51 in all. The owner claims "The change in minimum wage will mean our payroll will increase roughly 39%" but 10.74 to 12.25 is a 14% increase.

The owner also lists the following for reasons the business is failing, "The steady movement towards online shopping, mostly with Amazon, has taken a steady toll on bookstores throughout the world and Borderlands was no exception. After that and related to it, has been the shift towards ebooks and electronic reading devices." How can any of that be true if 2014 was his best year ever?

Borderlands opened in November 1997, the same year Amazon became "the world's largest bookstore" So by the time he opened the store the "movement towards online shopping" was well on its way. He choose to complete against Amazon, it is not like he had an established store and then Amazon came and took all his sales. I could see where ebooks could hurt his sales, Sci-fi fans are normally among the 1st to adapt new technology, but at the same time he claims last year was his best year ever so how much damage could ebooks be doing to him?

Another issue is the fact he charges retail prices for his books, no one charges or pays full retail for hardcover books anymore either online or B&M. B&M stores like Krogers, Walmart, Target, or Barnes & Noble, they all sell hardcover books with at least 20%-30% off retail. If I can buy a book for 20% off one would assume a bookstore owner would get an even better price.

He seems like a person just looking for a reason to close the bookstore portion of his business (he is keeping the Cafe open), and he is using the minimum wage increase as that excuse. But if you have only had one small profitable year out of the last 18 years maybe you just suck as at running a bookstore and it is time to find something else to do. He still has 7 years on lease for the book store (10 years on the Cafe) so he will be doing something else with that space

-----------
All facts and quotes come from the following links
http://www.borderlands-books.com/
http://www.borderlands-books.com/about_history.html
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/borderlands-books-in-sf-announces-closure-cites-minimum-wage-increase/Content?oid=2918723
http://abc7news.com/business/sf-bookstore-becomes-casualty-of-minimum-wage-hike-/502008/
http://www.thebolditalic.com/articles/6763-rip-borderlands-books-killed-by-the-minimum-wage-law
http://observationdeck.io9.com/borderlands-books-dies-without-honor-1683239610
http://sfist.com/2015/02/01/the_missions_borderlands_books_will.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon.com#History

[ND-Dem]

115. "one would assume a bookstore owner would get an even better price." why would anyone think

a small bookstore could get a better price (discount) than a large corporation that buys in bulk?