borders ink. July 28, 2009

Some of you may know about Borders’s recent decision to create specific teen spaces in their stores, re-naming the section Borders Ink. Well, I walked into my Borders store on Saturday night, just a few days after the announcement and my store’s already been converted over!

I have some blurry pictures to share (apparently I can’t keep a camera steady while I’m bouncing with excitement) and a really badly drawn in Microsoft Paint diagram of the set-up.

The first picture is off the graphic novel display section, the second is the YA display section. These are back-to-back displays and are what serve at the dividers between the two.

Here’s the diagram!

(I told you it was lame!)

Both sections are mirrors of each other. They each had four shelving sides, very long with tons of room to browse. I would say each section has about 150-200 shelves of material. That’s, of course, a rough estimate. At the end of every aisle, there was an endcap display. And a table display of some of the newest material.

All in all, I’m really pleased with this decision. (Though, I’m a Borders supporter already.) I think it’s a great idea to give teens a space of their own. My only concern is how adult graphic novel/manga readers feel about now having to go to the “teen” section to get their graphic novels. (And that I can’t find any “official” press release off the Borders website — it redirects to the Facebook page.)

Some more information: Borders Ink on Facebook, Wall Street Journal article on Borders Ink, Borders Online // Borders Ink

So, what do you think?