My wife unearthed this Border Books and Music gift card in September 2013. As a person who hates to see something valuable go to waste, I wanted to use it. There was just one small problem---the last remaining Borders Books and Music stores closed two years earlier, on September 18, 2011. Wikipedia has the full story of Borders. And wouldn't you know, the bankruptcy judge failed to mandate a long grace period for cashing in gift cards, causing this perfectly good gift card to go to waste!

I miss Borders Books and Music, by far the best bookstore in my neck of the woods of South King County (south of Seattle). Its Tukwila store was originally on Southcenter Parkway, in a small shopping center built on the site of a brick office building that was demolished in 1995. (I worked in the building in the mid-1980s.)
That store was at the center of this Wikimapia aerial view.

My wife and I patronized that store many times. It had a Starbucks cafe inside and had a large second-floor balcony filled with books. In July 2008 it moved to a site on the second floor of the Southcenter Mall. That store was smaller than the original, probably a result of declining business. Its selection of travel books was much smaller than what had been offered at the original store. Borders went out of business in September 2011, causing the mall store to close. Its space was taken over by a church, and later by The Container Store.

Good-bye Borders!