Another farewell to a corporation that flourished in the olden days: the Borders bookstores chain is dead, reports the Wall Street Journal. Originally a mom-and-pop shop — it was founded in Michigan, in 1971, as a used bookstore — its profits soared in the '90s, but then the Internet happened, and Amazon.com was born, and people stopped reading.

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The company failed to find a buyer after filing for bankruptcy in February. In a press release, Borders Group President Mike Edwards said:

We were working hard towards a different outcome, but the headwinds we have been facing for quite some time, including the rapidly changing book industry, eReader revolution, and turbulent economy, have brought us to where we are now.

On the bright side, you can stock up on half-priced books, a comfy couch, and boxed sets of West Wing! Liquidation starts Friday, tentatively, at the stores that are still left in the area: downtown Silver Spring, Germantown, Frederick, and Montgomery Mall in Maryland; Springfield, Bailey's Crossroads, Fairfax, Fair Oaks Mall, and Pentagon City in Virginia. The D.C. stores shut down in May.