Borders closure could have positive fall-out for urban areas

In walkable urban areas, the outcome of the closure of chain stores
such as Borders can be positive, Chris Leinberger from the
Brookings Institution told NPR. In some cases, he said, Borders stores
have been taken over by restaurants that are open 24 hours. Other
spaces could be replaced by smaller boutiques. He explained that in
places where Borders or another chain is an anchor store, a closure
could have an impact on surrounding locations, especially when the
aim of a so-called anchor store was to draw people to a location.

As The Real Deal previously reported, interest in Manhattan Borders stores is expected to be high.

On
the upside, Leinberger said, many large national chains are experimenting with
urban location such as Walmart and Target, and are beginning
to see that that walkable urban areas could be more profitable than
suburban ones. Suburban locations might find the loss of a large
Borders more challenging he said, because “we’ve overbuilt drivable
suburban retail. We’ve got far too much of it. And there is pent-up
demand for walkable urban places.”  The auctions for borders will take place at the end of this month. [NPR]