Borders Books UK went bust a while back, now the US Borders has declared bankruptcy, is closing about a third of their stores, and hopes that with an injection of new funds it can transform its fortunes by focusing more on ebooks and non-book merchandise. Yes, soon they'll be cafes and stationery and toy stores with a book area attached.
In the press Borders' plight is blamed largely on Amazon and the popularity of ebooks. Of course those are two huge factors but having visited a lot of Borders stores both here and in the US, I think there's another reason: they weren't very good. The shelves often were in disarray, with piles of books on the floor and staff members who seemed not to care very much. That's not good enough in the best of times and of course we are not in the best of times.
Even so, it's sad to see the demise of any book store, much less hundreds of them. All we can hope for now is the resurgence of independent book stores that cater to people who love physical books, staffed by people who read...kind of like the record shops that still sell vinyl. And for us readers it will mean being willing to spend a few dollars or pounds or euros more at those places rather than opting for Amazon all the time.