Consumer advice: use your Borders gift cards now

You’ve probably already heard that Borders has filed for bankruptcy and closing most — if not all — of its stores, including the remaining ones in New York City.  The Borders flagship location in the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle reportedly will close before Labor Day. Of course, this is bad news for thousands of Borders employees who will lost their jobs, thousands of book authors like me who will lose an important sales tool, and the many more thousands of book lovers who lose the opportunity to browse real bookshelves and thumb through real paper books.  That being said —

If you currently own any Borders gift cards or other form or Borders credit, be sure to cash it in now.  Use it or lose it.  There is no guarantee that the gift card or merchandise credit will be valid if Borders emerges from bankruptcy and re-organizes itself.  There are dozens of small, independent bookstores in NYC.  I’m putting a list together and will be publishing it soon here on NYC on the Cheap.