OUT-OF-BUSINESS BUSINESS, Winner
Borders Books & Music
Address: 270 Dairy Rd., Ste. 190, Kahului, HI 96732
Phone: 808-877-6160
Website: http://www.borders.com
Watching Borders' liquidation was like watching the carcass of a fallen beast being picked clean by vultures. Even if you’re King of the Kindle, if the sight didn't incite a twinge of sadness, you've got a hardcover heart. A la Ambrose Bierce, Mauians have eulogized Borders with "doleful voice(s), mingled with the sobbing which it was its purpose to stimulate and sustain, r(ising) and f(alling) ... like the sound of the sullen sea." On Twitter, @mauilibrarian2 said "[It’s] sad because [we've lost] a vibrant PLACE that serves as a barometer of who we are and what we value." Too true. Because Borders was more than just a place for book-buying (or not, as the company's bankruptcy bespeaks) -- it was a place to congregate and commiserate, to explore and expend. As this BOM award demonstrates, Maui misses dear ol' Dairy Rd. Borders -- maybe even more than it misses us.