Full Text:

Borders Bookstore Opens This Weekend

(with cut)

BY SHANNON HICKS

DANBURY -- Borders, a leading national book and music chain, will open the

doors of its newest store Friday, November 28. The 27,500-square-foot store

will contain more than 200,000 book, music, periodical and video titles, along

with a Cafe Espresso.

A media preview Wednesday evening offered the first glimpse into the store at

110 Federal Road. While the store opens its doors for business this weekend,

the official grand opening will be held the weekend of December 12-14.

That weekend, musical performances are scheduled by Lee Feldman, Lisa St Ann,

and Zen Lunatic; science fiction artist Michael Whelan will be visiting the

store; and a special story time with the "carrot-chomping world famous rabbit"

Bunnicula will be held, among other special events.

The Danbury store has two floors, with a full book stock on the main floor,

music and more reading materials on the second floor. Borders regularly offers

30 percent off all New York Times cloth bestsellers, a 10 percent discount on

most other hardcovers, and a discount on the Borders Top 50 CD List. Special

orders, gift wrapping and shipping, and gift certificates are all available.

Six cash registers near the front door will expedite purchases (the store

includes one handicapped-accessible register), and a separate information desk

will provide staff members who will be able to answer questions about in-store

stock and locations, handle special orders, and check available stock in

regional Borders stores.

The cafe is on the main floor, with a seating area for patrons who want to

read and enjoy a snack with their purchases.

Live music will be featured in Cafe Espresso. Toni LaClair, the community

relations manager of the Danbury store, says the store hopes to host live

music twice a week, including jazz, blues and classical performers.

The store has one of the most comprehensive selections of children's materials

in the area, with shelves of cassettes and CDs of children's music, a

ten-choice listening station, story books, and a large foreign language

section for children. Story times will be held Wednesday, Thursday and

Saturday mornings at 10 am.

Approximately 2,000 titles are available in the periodicals section. National

and international newspapers will be kept in stock.

A separate reading area is also available, on the second floor, where

workshops will be conducted. A full section of recorded music on cassette and

CD is set up on the second floor, with the 50,000 titles ranging from jazz,

blues, pop and classical. Another ten-choice listening station is also

available upstairs. The video section offers 8,000 titles.

The first Borders store opened in 1971 as an 800-square-foot book shop near

the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus. The business was founded by

brothers Tom and Louis Borders, who saw a need for a "serious" book store in

the academic community. Today there are more than 190 Borders book stores

across the country.

Borders stores reflect their community. The Anchorage, Alas., Borders has more

Russian language titles than most libraries; the Cranston, R.I., location

sells more Italian cookbooks than any other Borders store nationwide; and the

Chestnut Hill, Mass., store carries more than 2,100 classic video titles.

Mrs LaClair said the Danbury store is opening with a strong offering of

titles, but within three months, the store will be stocking a selection that

better reflects what the Danbury community is purchasing.

"I am hoping to make the activities we offer community-oriented, as well," she

said. "We want to be members of this community."

Customers across the country have named Borders stores everything from Best

Book & Music Store and Best Chain Bookstore, to Best Place to Buy Business

Books, Best Magazine Selection, Best Record Store and even Best Coffee Shop

Disguised as a Bookstore. Borders customers have always been encouraged to

visit stores and enjoy themselves, which is one of the reasons for the chain's

ongoing success. Mrs LaClair promises the Danbury store will be no different.

"We have had people coming up and looking in the windows, even asking if we

would set books aside for them, all week," she said Wednesday night. "Once

word gets out that we're open, we think we'll be very successful."