The Second Life of a Maui Bookstore
June 17th, 2012Borders had a superstore in a our little northshore town of Kahului. Whether this store sold a lot of books or not, I don’t know, but it was a very popular place, always full of people. It stayed open until fairly late in the Borders death cycle, but ultimately it was closed and emptied.
At the time, there were no other bookstores on this side of the island and so far as I know, there are still no other bookstores. The only bookstore I’m aware of on the island is a smallish Barnes & Noble way off in West Maui.
But the space that Borders occupied in the Maui Marketplace mall has finally been taken over. Sports Authority, which long occupied the storefront next door, has knocked down the intervening wall and doubled its floor space.
Don’t get me wrong–Sports Authority is a great store, and I shop there all the time. But it’s ironic that a sports equipment and clothing store should replace the last bookstore on the northshore. I suppose if there were much community demand, an entrepreneur would have already started an independent brick & mortar store here. But so far as I know, it isn’t happening.
Posted on: Sunday, June 17th, 2012 at 9:15 am
Categories: Maui.
Tags: bookstores
June 17th, 2012 at 9:34 am
that is just freakin’ sad. I am tempted to make disparaging comments about the general marketplace. lack of readers, etc on this island, but it wouldn’t be fair because the picture is complex. I do think that Bordrs might have been one of the few profitable ones, which means something else could have replaced it… only no one stepped up.
Aloha
Toby
June 17th, 2012 at 9:48 am
The store was always busy. It sure looked like it was doing okay. But it would take a huge leap of faith to start an independent bookstore from scratch. I hope it happens someday–and on our side of the island! 🙂