Borders Blanchardstown Closing Down - 50% Off Everything!

EI787

Borders in Blanch is closing down and so has 50% off everything - Books, CD's, DVD's etc etc! Some fantastic deals to be had!

Excludes newspapers, magazines and a few other items I think. But the majority is half price.

Reduction is made at the till.

Not sure when the store is actually closing. So get in while you can! Open till 9pm tonight.

mateo

Ooh sounds great. Thanks for the heads up!

dubmick

Good to hear of 50% off but very sad to hear this store is closing down. I thought it was an excellent book shop.

RobertFoster

It's a pity they're closing, I liked the shop too. The smell of coffee (even if it is Starbucks ) when you walk in makes it very welcoming.

venividivici

thanks for the info...

get the xmas presents now, only five months left ya know, lol, only messing!!

glossy

heard Aug 10th they are closing down

50% off. cool

Rashers72

Do they stock primary school books? I have about EUR200 worth to purchase.

EI787

Yep, they do stock school books.

phasers

Ooh this sounds good, I may have to make the trek over to Blanch this week! Cheers OP

dashwood

While you are all bargain hunting in Borders spare a thought for the staff who are all being made redundant. Some of whom have been there since it opened and now have to watch all their hard work come apart. It's a difficult time, so please be nice

ixus

Shame, a great store.
Will have to pop in for a bargain or 10.

BostonB

Indeed sad. A great store.

skippy15

shame to hear this- a great store and chill out zone-
hopefully only temp closure has a lot of fans

Linku

Shame, never got to visit the shop and it's my favourite bookshop when abroad though. Guess they won't be opening any more stores in Ireland...

oneweb

As much as I love a bargain, that's terrible news Was a great store!

oneweb

Just got an email entitled "Borders Blanchardstown - Closing down sale 50% off everything"

[font=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] *Exclusions: Snacks and Beverages; Paperchase; Game; Starbucks; Electronic Gift Cards, Stamps, Book Tokens; Newspapers and Magazines.[/font]

robo

That is lousy...I love that shop!
So no more Borders in Ireland!!

ixus

oneweb wrote: »

Just got an email entitled "Borders Blanchardstown - Closing down sale 50% off everything"

[font=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] *Exclusions: Snacks and Beverages; Paperchase; Game; Starbucks; Electronic Gift Cards, Stamps, Book Tokens; Newspapers and Magazines.[/font]

Same here.

zing

Was over there a small while ago. For the most part it was 50% off the full value of the book/item so previous mark downs/offers didn't apply - i.e. I bought a few books that were already marked down or had buy one get one at half price stickers on them and they all scanned at the orig price and then had 50% taken off the total bill. Was one exception to this on the receipt which was a dvd but it looks like the cashier did a manual for it.

Great value but a shame to see the place going.

robo

Looks like Dublin is not the only store.

Borders UK withdraws from five stores, including Oxford St

Borders UK is to withdraw from five stores, including its branches on Oxford Street and in London Colney. A consultation process has begun with the employees who staff the five shops, but Borders would not say how many jobs would be affected by the closures, or when the shops would be shut. It leaves Borders with 36 superstores, and 10 small stores, including eight Books Etc shops.

The move follows the appointment of Clearwater Corporate Finance to find new investment last month. Philip Downer, chief executive of Borders UK, said it had agreed to sell the leases on the five stores to a fashion retailer. Completion dates have yet to be finalised.

In a statement Downer, said: "Several weeks ago, the directors of Borders UK confirmed to our staff and our key suppliers that we were exploring funding opportunities. As a consequence of this action, we have now agreed to sell the leasehold interest on five of our stores to a major fashion retailer. The five stores are Blanchardstown, Llantrisant, London Colney, Oxford Street, and Swindon."

He added: "The staff of these stores will now be entering a consultation process. The Operations and HR Departments are working closely with the stores to support our staff."

Downer told the Independent: "Trading is really tough but we are doing all the right things to cut back and save money where we can."

asharkman

Yea this is a pretty good shop, will be missed!
Still, gonna head out there and check out the bargains!

Oracle

Oh no that's a shame. I've never been to the Borders in Blanch, but the one in Oxford St. was great. They had live music, a coffee shop and great atmosphere, huge place as well, I think it spaned 3 floors. Reminded me of Hodges Figgis in Dawson Street, but better. Their closing is a terrible loss for the Oxford Street, and for Blanch.

Kiya

Thanks EI787,

Am gonna try to make it down before the weekend. I love this shop sooo much, other bookstores pale in comparison. Where will i go now to browse in peace with a coffee.

Seriously though, the poor staff, they were always so helpful no matter how vague my query..
hope they get some kind of comp..

LookingFor

WTF? This is awful!

By far the best store in the blanchardstown centre, and possibly the best book store in the country.

How and why?!?!

Very regular customer there..it always seemed busy too. They were liberal about letting people read books etc. without purchasing, but they still seemed busy at the tills, and the starbucks upstairs is always busy.

edit - and blanch is the only one in Ireland? This is terrible! Surely we can lobby them to keep one store open in Ireland Like that's just what Blanch needs..another bloody clothes shop.

edit 2 - what are the chances that the new shop will keep the starbucks there? I've built up a longtime loyalty there, frequently get freebies and extras and stuff from the staff.. be a shame to lose all that hopefully the manager and staff from there transfer over to one of the other sbs in the centre.

Arciphel

Was just down there a while ago, bought a good few books, some great deals to be had for sure - lots of just published books for sale too. They have a big schoolbooks section so would definetely recommend parents to check this out. Queue was very long though, took about 20-25 mins to get served so prepare for a bit of a wait. Still 90% of stock on shelves though.

viztopia

does anyone know what time they are open to tonight? btw, for the people that are saying that it is the only Borders in ireland, is there not one on Parell street down by the cinema?

LookingFor

viztopia wrote: »

does anyone know what time they are open to tonight? btw, for the people that are saying that it is the only Borders in ireland, is there not one on Parell street down by the cinema?

Blanch is the only one in Ireland:

http://www.borders.co.uk/local

I think you're thinking of Chapters. Which is a nice store, sure. But..Borders.. (

(I never thought I'd feel this sad over a store closing :pac:)

Arciphel

viztopia wrote: »

does anyone know what time they are open to tonight?

I think they are only open till 6 tonight. See here - Happy shopping!

up them Schteps

Happy days, I needed to get some books & Presents.

But also must spare a thought for the staff.....

jape

I was down there about 30 mins ago, ended up coming home, the queue was about 2 miles long :-(

Johnny Storm

I was there about 2:00
Queue was very big but every checkout was manned and moved reasonably quickly.
It was a good bookshop and I'll be sorry to see them go.
The staff all looked very pissed off, understandably.

oneweb

Arciphel wrote: »

I think they are only open till 6 tonight. See here - Happy shopping!

Just called them, they're open tonight til 8!

robo

They are open til 9pm according to their site

robo

oneweb wrote: »

Just called them, they're open tonight til 8!

That is probably more true than their site, seeing that things have now changed!

athtrasna

jape wrote: »

I was down there about 30 mins ago, ended up coming home, the queue was about 2 miles long :-(

Me too - it was crazy, could barely get in the door not to mind look around!! Anyone know what's happening the Paperchase stuff seeing as it's not in the sale. They do fab photo albums!

b4nd1t

great shop, but rip off prices. good ridence to them.

Murt10

Damn! Damn! Damn! My favourite shop in the Centre gone. Dropped E40 there last Friday.

The only thing that could go someway to compensate for this is if ALDI opened up in its place. There is no ALDI shops in Dublin 15 despite the fact that it's one of the biggest population centres in the Country.

Better still would be for Netto to open up there. They are talking about opening up in Ireland. This would be a perfect place for them

Razorfish

Anyone know what's happening the Paperchase stuff seeing as it's not in the sale.

Was down in Borders Blanch this afternoon and all the paperchase stuff was also 50% off! Got some great stuff. Queues were not that bad - 15 mins wait max.

Codymac14

Borders staff here. Thanks to all who mentioned the staff .

Every customer I've spoken to over the last 2 days has said how much they love the store and how disappointed they are that it's closing (had an american lady nearly crying today, nearly made me forget that I'm the one losing my job!), so I've been recommending that they go here and let head office know how they feel about the closure.

FYI doors are closing at 8 tonight, because it is just bedlam in there. Any later and I'd imagine staff wouldn't get out until after 10 (we normally close at 9)

If you plan on coming over I would recommend the 1st 2 hours of the day (between 9 and 11), it's busy enough, but not too busy. And please excuse the mess, we're doing everything we can to maintain standards in the shop, we only have so many staff, and with the way some people are tearing the place apart, you'd swear it was the end of the world, rather than just a bookshop's closing down sale!

@athtrasna - Despite what the signage and e-mail say, paperchase stock is all 50% off

athtrasna

Thanks Cody...will head back over soon!

LookingFor

Don't be messy folks :mad: Seriously, borders is usually a nice orderly tidy store, and it'd be awful to see it get all f-ed up before it closes. Maybe that's unavoidable though.

Told some friends and they can't believe it's going! We'll definitely be trying to make the most of it before it goes.

edit - also fired a email off to customerservice@mail2.borders.co.uk - the contact form on their site requires a british postcode to work, so probably best to send stuff here, even though they say you should only mail them about orders. Probably can't make much of a difference, but you never know..

athtrasna

Left home immediately after posting, drove to borders to find nearly 100 people outside and the doors shut. Not admitting anyone after 7, not 8!!

Unfortunately the girl and the security guy on the door did not handle it particularly well and there were a lot of unhappy regulars standing in the rain. It didn't help when they left friends and family of those already in there in despite the line outside. I know these staff have lost their jobs but rudeness was not required. As for the numbers being too big to handle, as someone in the queue said, Next do it twice a year!

Am upset now, my sis in Cork had asked me to get photo albums for her and I've no chance now, can't get there again before tomorrow night and sure I probably won't get in the door then either!!

We're all upset that this amazing shop is going but as a regular customer, this was not how I wanted to remember it.

Codymac14

athtrasna wrote: »

Left home immediately after posting, drove to borders to find nearly 100 people outside and the doors shut. Not admitting anyone after 7, not 8!!

Unfortunately the girl and the security guy on the door did not handle it particularly well and there were a lot of unhappy regulars standing in the rain. It didn't help when they left friends and family of those already in there in despite the line outside. I know these staff have lost their jobs but rudeness was not required. As for the numbers being too big to handle, as someone in the queue said, Next do it twice a year!

Am upset now, my sis in Cork had asked me to get photo albums for her and I've no chance now, can't get there again before tomorrow night and sure I probably won't get in the door then either!!

We're all upset that this amazing shop is going but as a regular customer, this was not how I wanted to remember it.

Sorry to hear this, when I left at 5 I was told we would be closing at 8, so not sure of the reason why this was changed. I'd imagine it was because there were so many people in the shop/queueing that they felt it would take a lot longer than an hour to clear it.

As regards the Next comparison, I'm sure they take on a buttload of extra staff in preparation for their sale, which they're aware of months in advance. We were only told we were closing 5 days ago, didn't leave us with much time to try and convince our part-time staff to come in for full-time hours, and obviously we can't take on any extra staff.

athtrasna

It's a catch 22 Cody. I feel very sorry for you guys and am still amazed at how a busy store like this could be closed. Borders was always such a pleasant shopping experience from the staff to the stock.

At the same time, I felt this was no way to treat customers. Yes they were looking for bargains but most of them were people who have parted with quite a lot of money in Borders since you opened in 2006.

My sister buys at least 10 of those photo albums a year through me and she doesn't even live here. I would say I easily spent more than 1k in there a year when you take presents, papers, college books, dvds, cds, cards, photo albums, other books and bits and pieces into account. So I guess it was a bit like two fingers to us that we were being turned away.

I would gladly have done an hour behind a till to have had the chance to buy what I wanted

Cringer

I was in there for about 1.5 hours - it's a lovely store to browse around and take your time checking out the books. Despite the masses I still found it an enjoyable experience. I was at the tills around 5pm when I heard one of the guys working there saying to close the doors as there's too many in here now...

It's a shame it's closing. It took 45 mins to queue and pay - and I NEVER queue more than two mins out of principle, if I can help it of course, but the tills were all manned and the bargains were just too good to leave behind.

The staff there were always kind and courteous and very helpful. It seems to be a trend every time I went there. Shame so many other stores don't follow suit.

LookingFor

What's the stock situation like?

If I get there at the weekend should there still be 'decent' stuff to find? Mostly interested in business/computer/design books and stuff..

dubmick

just back from after driving over to Borders. When we arrived the doors were closed. There is a sign up saying that they closing the doors at 7pm on weekdays and 8pm at the weekend.

I am disappointed as I drove (40 mile round trip) specifically to Blanchardstown to go to Borders. A few people were at door complaining to the manager...her response "complain all you want to head office, I don't care as I've just been made redundant"

As sure I only wanted to pick up a few books, not to worry. Seems like some people where going mad...eg. 10 books in their hands.

Codymac14

athtrasna wrote: »

I would gladly have done an hour behind a till to have had the chance to buy what I wanted

If it helped reduce the queues, I'm sure your offer would have been taken up! Just a pity we've only got the 6 tills.

I can understand your annoyance, can't really comment on what happened though until I go back in on Thursday and find out the exactly why the shop closed at 7. All I can say is that, from my point of view, every customers spending is appreciated; it kept me in a job for a year!


@LookingFor - I was only on the tills for a short while today, but it was mostly fiction and kids books that I was selling.

jodome

Sad to hear Borders going, one of the best shops in Blanch. Pity whoever designed the outer section seems to have mistaken Ireland for someplace sunny and put all the outer shops miles away from the places where damp Irish shoppers actually hang out. Might have been a few more shoppers if they'd planned it a bit better. But reckon we've found out that "planning" in this fair land of ours means handing over a brown paper bag with nonsequential unmarked bills inside.

Hope there's a book or two left when I get out after work tomorrow

Cringer

There were PLENTY of business, computer and management type books there when I was there @5pm, also cds, dvds, self help, diet & nutrition, travel and all those that seem to be generally on that side of the shop.

School books were few and far between, and it looked to me that most things being sold were kids type stuff; schoolbooks, games etc...

I was at the till when the guy serving me said to another something along the lines of "we need to close the doors there are too many in here now" and that was at 5pm... With queues taking 45 mins I guess closing the doors at 630-7pm meant they could serve the remainder until the official closing time.

For some reason I thouht they always closed at 10pm during the week :rolleyes:

athtrasna

Normally open til 9...tonight they said it was volumes. I know the staff aren't happy at losing their jobs and the numbers tonight were unexpected... but rudeness wasn't called for.