Borders opens new concept store

Town Square location has kiosks for book publishing, entertainment

dale dombrowski/viewJennifer Roberts, a veterinary student from Ohio, checks out the MP3 downloading area at the new Borders store at Town Square, 6605 Las Vegas Blvd. South, April 1. The store is one of only two new Borders concept locations in the country that offer the service. dale dombrowski/viewKendra Omullane tries out the self-publishing kiosk at the new Borders at Town Square, April 1. Advertisement

It wasn't too long ago that the number of bookstores in town could be counted on one hand. Now, the valley boasts a large number, many of which have more books in the fiction section than the booksellers of 15 years ago carried in the entire store. Las Vegas has become such a mecca of reading that the international chain Borders has chosen the city to test market its latest concept store.

The new Borders at Town Square, 6605 Las Vegas Blvd. South, is only the second like it, the first being adjacent to the company's corporate offices in Ann Arbor, Mich. The 22,000-square-foot store features the usual wide range of titles but also has several unique features bridging the gap between traditionally printed media and the interactive electronic age.

"At the core, what our CEO asked us to create was a bookstore," said Jill Lyon, Borders vice president of store planning. "One with a good catalog, breadth of selection and a place where people feel like they're still in a well-stocked store with a knowledgeable staff. So our challenge was to do all that and add a little zing."

Many of the store's sections feature TV screens running an endless loop of related videos. For instance, cooking shows run in the cookbook section, and travelogues run in the travel section, along with a computer with Internet access to help plan a trip.

Near the center of the store is a group of kiosks in which patrons can create a custom-made music CD, download audio books to a portable digital player, research and organize a family tree or even self publish a book.

Patrons who are self publishing can print books in hardcover or paperback, and they can print from one to several hundred copies and have them shipped virtually anywhere.

An important aspect of the system is that the book will have an ISBN number, which will allow people to order it. It's the ideal sort of system for people who wish to distribute a small number of books to friends and family, or who are aspiring writers who want to circumvent traditional publishing methods.

"The coolest thing about this and our ancestry.com site is that while you could do these things at home, there's nothing worse than being at home having a question and trying to find a contact number or get a question answered by e-mail," said Reagan Pfifer, Borders training supervisor. "Here, we'll tell them how to set it up, and if they have any problems when they take it home, they can just come back. We can help them with their site in the store in a language that they can understand rather than dealing with the arduous process of dealing with tech support."

The store also has taken the expensive step of displaying much more of its stock with book covers facing outward rather than the more traditional spine facing outward method. This means that it can carry fewer titles but each book receives more exposure. The store carries approximately 200,000 individual titles.

The grand opening on the weekend of April 4 included appearances by authors John Huddy, Steven Kalas, Barry Lyga and others, as well as performances by former "American Idol" contestant Jon Peter Lewis, The Las Vegas Strings and Shauna Burns. The store plans to host a number of book signings in the future.

"This book store is incredible," said Kendra Omullane, an Australian living in India who recently was on vacation in Las Vegas. "We don't get bookstores like this in India. This is gorgeous. I could be in here all day."

Borders at Town Square is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., on Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.