Spending my birthday at California's Great America

Hi everyone, I came back from spending my birthday visiting one of Northern California's two major amusement parks, California's Great America. I have actually never visited this park until this year, which is surprising since me and my dad love to ride roller coasters having visited Knotts Berry Farm in Southern California, Silver Dollar City in Missouri, Dollywood in Tennessee, Kennywood in Pennsylvania, Lagoon in Utah, and even Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California. But since the park is planning to close in 2033(1), 9 years from now, I felt like it was time for my family and I to visit the park. I decided to spend my 23rd birthday (the day before my 23rd birthday) evening at this park. And when we went, I was pleasantly surprised. 

The grounds at the park are beautiful and the front carousel is beautiful. And there are some fun roller coaster rides, even though when we started with the Grizzly and the Demon coasters, I felt like I would be right about my judgment of the park not having as good of roller coasters being correct. But I was pleasantly surprised when I rode their new ride Rail Blazer, and their classic Flight Deck (Top Gun coaster), and their new wooden roller coaster Gold Striker, that I was wrong. 

I was thinking about the land situation. It seems like it is in a better location being in Santa Clara near San Jose than where Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is at in Vallejo. Being in the Silicon Valley, tech central, which results in it being a money and power hub. And being near Levi's Stadium where the San Francisco 49ers play. Which is also why the location may not be as good as Six Flags Vallejo, because the park is closed on Sundays when the 49ers play at home because they share the same parking lot because of fears of overwhelming the road capacity and the resources of the community(2). 

Despite all this, many people haven't been to Great America in many years, even in the Bay Area. And Six Flags has become a popular choice for people in the Bay Area with more popular roller coasters and attractions being between the Bay Area and Sacramento. Which in Great America's heyday in the 80s and 90s was only Marine World which was originally in Redwood City and moved to Vallejo in 1986. When Premier Parks bought it in 1996 was when the major roller coasters were first installed at the park, which there are 10 of as of present(3), while Great America has 9 of them(4). And Six Flags operates the aquarium and zoo attractions that Great America does not have. 

Despite these things against Great America, Great America was still a fun and appealing park to visit and honestly didn't feel like a park in permanent decline as I initially thought. And the atmosphere at Great America is cleaner and more family friendly in my opinion than Six Flags with more pleasing shows and even their Halloween celebrations were more fun than I thought. I especially enjoy the Peanuts theme at the park with Snoopy and Charlie Brown like Knotts Berry Farm has. 

I really enjoyed visiting this park and I think it would be good place to visit and even take your family to visit. I think you would enjoy it!!

1. https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2022/06/27/cedar-fair-prologis-great-america.html

2. https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/great-america-closure-what-its-like-18471961.php

3. https://coasterpedia.net/wiki/Six_Flags_Discovery_Kingdom

4. https://coasterpedia.net/wiki/California%27s_Great_America

The History of the Folsom Outlets and why it was built?

For starters, the Folsom Premium Outlets is an 80 store (actually 62 stores operate here, with 13 vacancies at this present time in July 2024) outlet mall at the intersection of Folsom Blvd and Iron Point Road right of US 50. It has 296,035 sq feet of retail space. It is the closest Factory Outlet mall to Sacramento and the only one in the Sacramento metro area. The next closest outlet mall is the Vacaville Outlets which is 32 miles from Sacramento and 53 miles from Folsom. Outlet malls are known for selling the overstock from retailers and their irregular merchandise. But factory outlets got their start in the 1930s when manufacturers started selling their surplus merchandise directly to consumers right outside of the factory. They gained popularity with consumers because they didn’t have to wait until department stores started having sales on products they wanted. Then as time went on, starting in the 1960s, customers preferences moved to the malls and developers were inspired to build shopping malls dedicated to factory outlets(1), which is what Folsom Outlets is. The Folsom Outlets were built and opened in 1990, which was a huge success. But the location of the mall is interesting, since the location doesn’t represent the typical location of an outlet mall. They are usually located near a major interstate route, in a major tourist town, and in the suburbs. Folsom Outlets is in the suburbs away from the city and it is on US 50 and is on the way to a major tourist destination, South Lake Tahoe. But it is 84 miles from Lake Tahoe and only 20 miles from the city, which is not much help in becoming a stop for travelers. And I-80 and I-5 are much more popular interstate routes from the Sacramento and San Francisco area to other places in the state and the Western United States. But the outlet mall was successful and is continuing to be a popular place for shoppers in the region with major outlets like Nike, Coach, Michael Kors, Levis,
and Gap continuing to operate there. And new outlets such as J. Crew planning to open at the property(3). Which is despite the fact of its general location and even its location in the city being away from its major thoroughfare, East Bidwell Street, which it is 3-4 miles from and 8 minutes from, and the fact that the outlet mall hasn’t received a renovation since 2000, when it was expanded to the east to include where Levis, Gap, and the then Saks Off 5th outlet are at. Saks has since closed that outlet to move to the Creekside Town Center in Roseville(4), which they also closed later(5), which could be a sign the outlet mall is not as popular for retailers as it once was. The area around the mall has been struggling with retaining major tenants. The only sit down restaurant on the property, Applebee’s, only operated for a few years until it closed in 2008 during the recession, and the restaurants that came after Casa Ramos which lasted from 2010 to 2020, and Mariachi’s from 2020 to 2022, have both gone out. Taco Bell which was next to the movie theater closed, in order to focus on other Folsom locations, which is a rarity. The McDonald’s next to the outlet mall was slow to remodel to its newest look till 2023 and had the honor to be the last McDonald’s in the area to have play equipment from the 1990s, which they removed a few months ago and the restaurant later closed this month, October 2024 (5)(6). And even the mall has lost all its tenants in its food court. Despite the outlet mall’s unusual location, the outlet mall and the area continue to hang on with a popular movie theater, two hotels, and a Chili’s next door also. 

 The malls that have opened since the Folsom Outlets nearby are the Galleria at Roseville in Roseville 15 miles north, the largest mall in the Sacramento area, built in 2000, Fountains at Roseville a lifestyle center next to the Galleria in 2008, and the Palladio at Broadstone in Folsom itself built in 2009. And power centers such as Broadstone Plaza built in 2001 and Folsom Gateway in 2004. These centers have provided major competition, but the outlet mall continues to be the only outlet mall in the Sacramento area. 

 (1) The History Of Outlet Malls: From Factory Outlets To Shopping Destinations: https://www.outletshoppers.com/the-history-of-outlet-malls/

(2) Q&A: The differences between an outlet and mall store by Mary Chao https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2016/06/02/q-differences-between-outlet-and-mall/85286328/ 

(3) J.Crew Factory begins work on new Folsom Premium Outlets store by Jake Abbott: https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2024/07/24/jcrew-factory-joining-folsom-premium-outlets.html 

(4) Saks Off 5th closes store at Folsom Premium Outlets by Sonya Sorich:https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2015/04/16/saks-off-5th-closes-store-at-folsom-premium.html 

(5) Saks Off 5th permanently closes in Roseville; space could get new future by Sonya Sorich: https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2021/09/07/saks-off-5th-closes-in-roseville.html 

(6) When McDonald’s remodels a location with an Indoor PlayPlace, they often replace the equipment with new play equipment right away. The fact that this McDonald’s kept the old equipment a year after its remodel and removed it and have been slow to replace it, might be a sign of this retail area’s struggles. According to PlacerAI, this location only had 19,000 visits in June of 2024, which is less than the two McDonald’s on East Bidwell, one at Broadstone Plaza and one at Folsom Faire, which have between 32,000 and 36,000 visits each.

(7) McDonald's restaurants closes near Folsom Outlets: https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2024/10/08/5-things-mcdonalds-closes-near-folsom-outlets.html

My experience golfing while TopGolf expands

 

TopGolf is apparently planning a second Sacramento area location in Natomas, according to a Sacramento councilmember. I was surprised to learn about this because I didn't know our area was prime to have two. If you don't know about TopGolf, they have a location in Roseville off Hwy 65 off of Blue Oaks Blvd and are a place to eat and drink while practicing at their driving range. This post is relevant to me because I recently played at TopGolf a couple weeks ago with my friend who loves to play golf, and had a really fun time working on improving my golf skills because I am also participating in Special Olympics golf at the time of this writing. I have been playing at Empire Ranch for the past few weeks and a few weeks ago at the course was the first time I played golf. So, I am new at the sport and am learning every week on how to improve on the sport. I am very pleased that TopGolf is planning on expanding their presence in Sacramento and that the Sacramento region is still popular for new locations of new businesses. 

Here's the article: https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2024/08/12/topgolf-natomas-location-talamantes.html

Here's TopGolf's website to learn more about them and where they have locations: https://topgolf.com/us/

I hope you enjoyed reading about the article and that you learned more about TopGolf and are inspired to visit it.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.                                                John 3:16

Big Lots closures are not equal. Why does Big Lots struggle more in California than in other states??

 Big Lots is closing 300 stores, which includes 75 out of 109 of their California stores. Which includes most of their Sacramento stores such as:

Big Lots is closing five Sacramento area stores:

Elk Grove

Folsom-Greenback

North Highlands

Placerville (I actually learned this bad news as I was driving to visit Pollock Pines to take pictures for my new video, which I would highly recommend checking out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBGOFW81lgQ&t=1s. 

Why does another Placerville store have to close??)

Sacramento-Valley Hi

Sacramento-La Riveria

Woodland

Which leaves Big Lots with one Sacramento area store that is not closing:

Roseville

But states such as their home state of Ohio with 102 stores only has 6 closures set, and even Texas with 116 stores has no closures set. https://chainstoreage.com/big-lots-closing-about-300-stores-california-takes-big-hit

Here's full closure list: https://www.fastcompany.com/91168279/big-lots-store-closings-new-full-list-of-doomed-locations-35-states

And their website of their stores: https://local.biglots.com/

And Big Lots is saying they are working on a turnaround plan that seems to be working: https://www.retaildive.com/news/is-big-lots-transformation-plan-enough-to-save-it/722589/

What do you think? Why are they struggling a lot more in California than other places? Are Walmart and Target much more popular in California than other states, or since Rite Aid still operates in California, which isn't that common in many states anymore with many of them being pared down to CVS and Walgreens in that industry, does it drive business away from Big Lots?? Do people in California think less of Big Lots and have less of a reputation than in the Midwest?? Or has Big Lots become less of a discounter in California than it is in other places?? 

                                     

Attention Cameron Park: There's a new Mexican restaurant next to Applebee's

Are you looking for new restaurants to try in Cameron Park?? Do you know that there is a new Mexican restaurant in the Fork Lift/Applebee's shopping center. It is called Valenz Mexican Kitchen, which is located at 3275 Coach Lane in Cameron Park, California at the end of the plaza behind Applebee's. The owner is Antonio Valenzuela, who originally started this restaurant as a ghost kitchen during the pandemic, which blossomed into two food trucks serving the local area. Valenzuela decided to sell one of those trucks to fund the operation of the restaurant, which is 3,280 sq ft in size, and allows him to expand his horizions in the restaurant industry. The building has been home to several different restaurants, including Fondue 152 which operated for three years-from 2020 to 2023 and ZacJack Bistro which operated from 2011 to 2016. I ate one chicken and one steak tostada which were both really good and delicious chips and salsa. I went in seeing a fairly limited menu and I went out with delicious food that I believe is on par and even better than the other local restaurants in the area. I would recommend giving this place a try and if you like it, please tell me what you thought about it!! 

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.                                                John 3:16

Thank you for reading my blogpost and God bless!!

Utah: my top favorite things about the Beehive State

Hi everyone, I just came back from visiting the state of Utah and I would like to discuss some of my favorite highlights from the trip, which I hope you will enjoy. 

We flew in on the fourth of July into Salt Lake City which was a fun time to enter into Utah, because they have some spectacular fireworks displays especially in the Utah Valley, which we had the privilege to drive out to see at the Cabela's in Lehi's parking lot, near Thanksgiving Point. We saw the displays from Thanksgiving Point, in towns in the Utah Valley even as far south as Provo from the parking lot. 

Before we did that, we started our trip eating lunch at the popular Red Iguana Mexican Restaurant, featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, where I ate delicious fajitas and chips and salsa. (1)

After eating there, we headed to City Cakes (2), an amazing gluten free bakery where we got donuts, cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, cookies and my favorite, their cheesecake. They have two locations, one in Salt Lake City and one in Midvale, which we visited on the trip. 

In fact, as we were driving through Salt Lake City to head to the bakery was when I happened to see a row of trains on the railroad near the Rio Grande station. And I learned that one of those trains was the famous Big Boy No. 4014 train(3), which ran from December 1941 to December 1961 having traveled 1,031,205 miles in its 20 years in service. The train was reacquired in 2013 from the RailGiants Museum in Pomona, California and was restored and returned to service in May 2019 to commemorate the 150^th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad’s Completion. The locomotives were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. They were articulated to allow them to negotiate curves with a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement, meaning they had four wheels on the leading set of “pilot” wheels guiding the engine, eight drivers, another set of eight drivers, and four wheels following supporting the rear of the locomotive. There are seven of them on public display in different cities in the country. St Louis, Missouri; Dallas, Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; Denver, Colorado; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Cheyenne, Wyoming. That was an amazing surprise and a delight for railroad enthusiasts to look at. 

Since we were trying to escape the heat in California during that time, we decided to stay the week in Park City, Utah which is at 6,936 feet in elevation, which meant the temperatures were in the 70s and 80s most of the time. It got to 91 the day we left. But it was a very pleasant week in the weather and in the things we did there. 

We stayed in the condos at Kimball Junction (the big box chains and affordable area of Park City) in Newpark Town Center(4), in the shopping center with Best Buy which was fun to see and to walk around in being a main street and also being next to the Swaner Nature Preserve which protects beautiful marshland, creek, mountain views of the area, and wildlife including Sandhill Cranes. The area is one of the communities that would be considered a new urbanist community: https://www.cnu.org/resources/what-new-urbanism. With an environmentally conscious footprint with dense housing, businesses within walking distance from residences, and preserving nature in the plan. 

In Park City, we enjoyed visiting the Olympic Park(5), which was a venue for the bobsledding, luge, skeleton, and ski jumping events for the 2002 Winter Olympics which took place in the Salt Lake City area, and is where they have a fun Alpine slide, ziplines, ropes courses, and tubing which we all enjoyed doing and is a very unique place in our country, one of the only two Winter Olympic Games fun parks I know of, the other one being in the Lake Placid area. And is very unique in having mountain tubing in the summer at expert level. 

Park City is known for being a winter ski destination, but its summer activities as stated with the Olympics is still strong. The ski resorts when the snow leaves, are turned into mountain biking, hiking, and horseback riding areas. We took advantage of going horseback riding at the Deer Valley grounds(6) which provided some beautiful scenery walking in the forest and up mountains. The mountains have beautiful pine trees and aspen trees and green grass, a delightful surprise in the Western United States. 

And the area's mountains have amazing vistas, especially going south from Park City at Empire Pass and Guardsman Pass, climbing up the mountain to see views of the Park City area and also of the Heber Valley and being awarded with an area in the Great Basin that receives about 30 to 40 inches of precipitation, most of which is snow in the winter, which brings the Pacific Northwest to the Great Basin in someway. 

And Park City has the fun main street to walk around with fun retail shops and restaurants in historic buildings nestled in the mountains on an incline street. One of my personal favorite businesses to visit in Downtown is the Dolly's Bookstore(7), an independently owned bookstore with many different books, which I especially enjoy for their geography and traveling section. They have been in business since 1972 and is Park City's premiere and only bookstore. 

Outside of Park City, we visited Ogden, where we skydived for the first time at the IFLY(8) in Downtown Ogden which was an intense experience in a surprisingly underwhelming building. Being in 120 mile winds flying was really impressive being in a small space and honestly took my breath away for a minute. 

After going to IFLY, I decided to visit the Ogden location of EntertainMart(9), a store dedicated to selling used books, games, and their large music and movie section, which I heard about from research and knowing the store took over the former Hastings, a former music and movie chain which had large stores, I thought I could do some music and movie shopping at a brick and mortar establishment that I can't do as much elsewhere and it did not disappoint. 

In Heber City, we visited the local favorite Dairy Keen(10), where they have delicious burgers and fries and chili. And most of all, their atmosphere is fun having the train theme which includes a running model railroad track around the restaurant. 

Heading south from Salt Lake City, we started at the Lone Star Taqueria(11) which is another Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives restaurant, where I ate fish tacos and enjoyed seeing their fun eclectic restaurant decor representing a 50s restaurant. 

I hope you enjoyed reading my short story about our Utah trip and I hope it gave you some ideas for new vacation ideas and I hope you have good luck on the trips you plan to take. 

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.                                                John 3:16

Here are some links to the places I visited:

1. Red Iguana:https://www.rediguana.com/

2. City Cakes: https://www.citycakescafe.com/

3. Info on the Big Boy Train: https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm

4. Newpark Town Center: https://newparktowncenter.com/

5.Utah Olympic Park: https://utaholympiclegacy.org/location/utah-olympic-park/

6.Deer Valley Horseback Riding: https://www.deervalley.com/things-to-do/activities/horseback-riding

7. Dolly's Bookstore: https://www.dollysbookstore.com/

8. IFLY Ogden: https://iflyutah.com/

9. EntertainMart:https://entertainmart.com/

10. Dairy Keen: https://www.dairykeen.com/

11. Lone Star Taqueria: https://www.lstaq.com/

Thank you for reading and God bless!!

What if Borders had survived??

                                    This photo was from NPR. I have no photos from Borders.

 Do you ever remember going to Borders back in the day?? You might not since they have been gone for almost 13 years now. But I certainly remember going to them. To me personally, Borders was the main bookstore for me and my family to have visited since they were the closest large bookstore to where I lived at the time. Barnes and Noble didn't operate as close to where we lived and where we shopped, with their closest store being 12 miles further up the road. When I saw they were going out of business in July of 2011 I felt like a part of me had died. And then I was relieved to have driven up the road to visit Barnes and Noble a month or so later to see they were still operating. And then five years later that the area ended up getting a new Barnes and Noble location. Here's that article link here when I wrote about it: https://haydenbusinessblog.blogspot.com/2017/02/new-place-to-buy-books-in-local-area.html. 

But I am wondering after seeing other businesses having managed to survive just with their most profitable ones away from competitors for a much longer period of time, I am wondering if Borders could have survived if they only operated their best performing locations and if they were bought out. These are the Borders that operated when they decided to close down completely, in markets where Barnes and Noble and Books A Million did not operate in. The stores that weren't their underperforming stores they had shut down before in April of 2011 and late 2010 and even late 2009. Were the locations listed below their most profitable locations?? I also studied these because I am looking to see if these markets mentioned are ripe for Barnes and Noble or Books A Million to open stores in and where retail in general is still thriving in. 

316 W. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale CA 94087   3300 Broadway, Eureka CA 95501   7415 Laguna Blvd., Elk Grove CA 95758   500 First Street #1, Davis CA 95616    2765 E Bidwell St, Folsom CA 95630 (Barnes and Noble now operates a store in this market)   2831 Countryside Dr., Turlock CA 95380   3415 S. Mooney Blvd., Visalia CA 93277 (Barnes and Noble now operates a store in this market)   2080 California Ave, Sand City, CA 93955   2910 Tapo Canyon Road, Simi Valley CA 93063   9301 Tampa Ave., Northridge CA 91324   354 Stonewood St, Downey CA 90241   429 South Associated Rd., Brea CA 92821   400 S. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia CA 91007   22372 El Paseo, Rancho Santa Margarita CA 92688   1101 S. Hover St., Longmont CO 80501   470 Lewis Ave., Meriden CT 6451 (Barnes and Noble now operates a store in this market)   915 Hartford Turnpike, Waterford CT 6385 (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates)   11401 Northwest 12th Street, Miami, Florida   6594 Douglas Boulevard, Douglasville, Georgia (Books A Million now operates a store in this market)   8000 Mall Parkway, Lithonia, Georgia   The Avenue East Cobb, Marietta, Georgia (Barnes and Noble now operates in this market)   98-1025 Moanalua Road, Aiea, Hawaii   45-056 Kamehameha Highway, Kaneohe, Hawaii   1249 Meheula Parkway, Milalani, Hawaii   6601 Edwardsville Crossing Drive, Edwardsville, Illinois (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates)   6971 West Grand Avenue, Gurnee, Illinois   1 North Lagrange Road, Lagrange, Illinois   1144 Lake Street, Oak Park, Illinois   10135 Indianapolis Boulevard, Highland, Indiana (Barnes and Noble now operates in this market)   6020 E 82nd St Suite 1515, Indianapolis, IN 46250   1200 South Duff Avenue, Ames, Iowa (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates)   555 John F. Kennedy Road, Dubuque, Iowa (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at. They have since moved to a new building, but still operate in market)   15350 West 119th Street, Olathe, Kansas   2441 North Maize Road, Wichita, Kansas (Barnes and Noble now operates in this market)   4801 Outerloop Road, Louisville, Kentucky   3024 Bardstown Road, Louisville, Kentucky   147 Bath Rd., Suite 9, Brunswick, Maine (Barnes and Noble now operates in this market)   116 Bangor Mall Blvd, Bangor, Maine (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at. They have since moved to a new building, but still operate in market)   430 Gorham Rd, South Portland, Maine (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates. Barnes and Noble now operates in this market as well.)   17636 Garland Groh Boulevard, Hagerstown, Maryland (Books A Million now operates a store in this market)   8518 Fenton Street, Silver Spring, Maryland   3304 Crain Highway, Waldorf, Maryland (Books A Million now operates a store in this market)   10-24 School Street, Boston, Massachusetts   100 Cambridgeside Place, Cambridge, Massachusetts   101 Independence Mall Way, Kingston, Massachusetts   739 Donald J. Lynch Boulevard, Marlborough, Massachusetts   1212 South Washington Street, North Attleboro, Massachusetts   612 East Liberty Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan   3924 Baldwin Road, Auburn Hills, Michigan   31150 Southfield Road, Beverly Hills, Michigan (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates.)   34300 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, Michigan   2211 South Telegraph Road, Bloomfield, Michigan   43435 Ford Road, Canton, Michigan   23000 Eureka Road, Taylor, Michigan     2612 Crossings Circle, Traverse City, Michigan (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates.)   100 Dogwood Boulevard, Flowood, Mississippi (Barnes and Noble now operates in this market)   1664 Northwest Chipman Road, Lee's Summit, Missouri   25 South County Centerway, St. Louis, Missouri   2395 US-93, Kalispell, MT 59901 (Barnes and Noble now operates in this market)   7775 Olson Drive, Papillion, Nebraska (Barnes and Noble now operates in this market)   911 Topsy Lane, Carson City, Nevada     6521 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, Nevada     76 Fort Eddy Road, Concord, New Hampshire (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates.)   30 Ash Brook Road, Keene, New Hampshire   285 Plainfield Road, West Lebanon, New Hampshire (Books A Million now operates in this market.)   325 Highway 202, Flemington, New Jersey   2200 Wrangleboro Road, Mays Landing, New Jersey (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates.)   235 Interstate Shopping Center, Ramsey, New Jersey   52 Route 23 North, Riverdale, New Jersey   20 Enterprise Avenue, Secaucus, New Jersey   5901 Wyoming Boulevard Northeast, Albuquerque, New Mexico   3513 Zafarano Drive, Santa Fe, New Mexico (Barnes and Noble now operates in this market)   5151 Sunrise Highway, Bohemia, New York   3 South Side Drive, Clifton Park, New York   162 East Main Street, Mount Kisco, New York   60 Smithfield Boulevard, Plattsburgh, New York   106 South Ridge Street, Portchester, New York     1500 Old Country Road, Riverhead, New York (Barnes and Noble now operates in this market)   30 Square Drive, Victor, New York (Barnes and Noble now operates in this market)   21182 Salmon Run Loop West, Watertown, New York     6751 Strip Avenue Northwest, Canton, Ohio (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates.)   4530 Eastgate Boulevard, Cincinnati, Ohio     335 Howe Avenue, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at. They have since moved to a new building, but still operate in market)     4314 Milan Road, Sandusky, Ohio (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates.)   6025 Kruse Drive, Solon, Ohio   17200 Royalton Road, Strongsville, Ohio (Books A Million now operates in this market)   2102 Niles-Cortland Road Southeast, Warren, Ohio (Books A Million now operates in this market)     777 Northwest 9th Street, Corvallis, Oregon   687 Northwest 12th Street, Gresham, Oregon   2235 Lancaster Drive Northeast, Salem, Oregon (Barnes and Noble now operates in this market)     1149 Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania     100 Viewmont Mall, Dickson City, Pennsylvania (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates.)     968 Baltimore Pike, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania     5125 Jonestown Road, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates.)     300 Lycoming Mall Circle, Pennsdale, Pennsylvania (was replaced by a Books A Million, which closed in 2023 when the mall closed. Possibility they could return??)     1170 Northway Mall, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania     Stroud Mall, Stroud Township, Pennsylvania   133 Pittsburgh Mills Circle, Tarentum, Pennsylvania     80 East Wynnewood Avenue, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania     3000 Whiteford Road, York, Pennsylvania (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates.)   497 Plaza Las Americas, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico   2130 Haines Avenue, Rapid City, South Dakota (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates.)   330 Franklin Road, Brentwood, Tennessee   6685 Poplar Avenue, Germantown, Tennessee   11235 Parkside Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee   300 Watters Road, Allen, Texas   570 Meyerland Plaza, Houston, Texas   8340 Agora Parkway, Selma, Texas (Barnes and Noble now operates in this market)   1220 Carl D. Silver Pkway, Fredericksburg, Virginia (Barnes and Noble and Books A Million both now operate in this market)   251 West Lee Highway, Warrenton, Virginia   1402 Southeast Everett Mall Way, Everett, Washington   3829 South Meridian, Puyallup, Washington   1700 East Washington Avenue, Union Gap, Washington   120 Mall Road, Barboursville, West Virginia (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates.)   850 Grand Central Mall, Vienna, West Virginia (Books A Million now operates in this market)   4030 Commonwealth Avenue, Eau Claire, Wisconsin (Books A Million now operates a store in this market, in this building where Borders was at and still uses Borders décor. So in some way, this Borders still operates.) Here are some locations that survived to Borders demise that already had a Barnes and Noble or Books A Million.  Maybe the markets Borders was more prominent in: 7320 West Bell, Glendale AZ 85308 6555 E Southern Ave, Mesa, AZ 85206 (Barnes and Noble is at Dana Park in Mesa) 5870 E. Broadway Blvd. #448, Tucson AZ 85711 233 Winston Dr, San Francisco CA 94132 (Barnes and Noble is in San Bruno at Shops at Tanforan) 456 University Ave., Palo Alto CA 94301 (Barnes and Noble is in Redwood City) 2339 Fair Oaks Boulevard, Sacramento CA 95825 2030 Douglas Blvd. Suite 9, Roseville CA 95661 (Barnes and Noble is at Creekside Town Center across from the Galleria at Roseville) 1641 East Monte Vista Ave., Vacaville CA 95688 (Barnes and Noble is in Fairfield) 110 El Camino, Fresno CA 93720 243 Madonna Rd., San Luis Obispo CA 93405 6510 Canoga Ave, Canoga Park, CA 91303(Barnes and Noble is in Calabasas. It used to have a store at the Promenade in Woodland Hills, but it closed in 2012.) 3700 Torrance Boulevard, Torrance CA 90503 710 S. Sepulveda, El Segundo CA 90245 3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa CA 92626 (Barnes and Noble is at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. They used to have a store across from South Coast Plaza. But it closed in 2016.) 3615 Riverside Plaza Drive, Riverside CA 92506 12370 South Mainstreet, Rancho Cucamonga CA 91739 25222 El Paseo, Mission Viejo CA 92691 (Barnes and Noble is in Aliso Viejo) 71800 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage CA 92270 1072 Camino Del Rio N., San Diego CA 92108 3030 Plaza Bonita Road, National City CA 91950 (Barnes and Noble is in Chula Vista at Otay Mesa) 2825 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa CA 95407 8557 Park Meadows Center Dr., Lone Tree CO 80124 241 W. 104th Avenue, Northglenn CO 80234 14500 W. Colfax Ave., Lakewood CO 80401 1 West Flatiron Crossing Drive, Broomfield CO 80021 2120 Southgate Rd, Colorado Springs CO 80906 1710 Briargate Boulevard, #209, Colorado Springs CO 80920 1600 South East Road, Farmington CT 6032 101 Geoffrey Drive, Newark DE 19713 4221 Concord Pike, Wilmington DE 19803 9205 South Dixie Highway, Miami, Florida US 98 and Powell Adams Road, Panama City Beach, Florida (Books A Million operates a store in Panama City and Barnes and Noble recently opened a store at Panama City Beach) 6999 Tyrone Square, St. Petersburg, Florida 1302 Apalachee Parkway, Tallahassee, Florida (Barnes and Noble and Books A Million both operate here.) 600 Orlando Avenue, Winter Park, Florida 196 Alps Road, Athens, Georgia 650 Ponce de Leon Highway, Atlanta, Georgia 257 Robert C. Daniel Jr. Parkway, Augusta, Georgia 1929 Scenic Highway, Snellville, Georgia 1200 Ala Moana Boulevard, Honolulu, Hawaii 1123 North Milwaukee Road, Boise, Idaho 450 West Wilbur Avenue, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (Barnes and Noble doesn't operate in Couer d'Alene. But they have a store in Spokane Valley, which serves the Couer d'Alene market since Borders didn't have a Spokane Valley store.) 2216 South Randall Road, Algonquin, Illinois 802 West Town Center Boulevard, Champaign, Illinois 150 North State Street, Chicago, Illinois 6601 North Illinois Street, Fairview Heights, Illinois 1660 South Randall Road, Geneva, Illinois 336 South Route 59, Naperville, Illinois 1500 16th Street, Oak Brook, Illinois 15260 South La Grange Road, Orland Park, Illinois 5201 West War Memorial Drive, Peoria, Illinois 199 Deane Drive, Rockford, Illinois 1540 Golf Road, Schaumberg, Illinois 101 Rice Lake Square, Wheaton, Illinois (Barnes and Noble used to operate in neighboring Bloomingdale, but they closed in 2020.) 7565 US Highway 31 South, Indianapolis, Indiana 13901 Town Center Road, Noblesville, Indiana 4000 East 53rd Street, Davenport, Iowa (Books A Million actually replaced this location, and still uses Borders decor. In some way, Borders still exists here. There is also a Barnes and Noble at the NorthPark Mall in Davenport) 2785 Dixie Highway, Crestview Hills, Kentucky 6401 Bluebonnet Boulevard, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1115 Annapolis Mall, Annapolis, Maryland 8200 Perry Hall Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 6151 Columbia Crossing Circle, Columbia, Maryland 5533 Urbana Pike, Frederick, Maryland 20926 Frederick Road, Germantown, Maryland 170 West Ridgely Road, Lutherville, Maryland 430 Legacy Place, Dedham, Massachusetts 280 School Street, Mansfield, Massachusetts (Barnes and Noble operates in Bellingham) 90 Pleasant Valley Street, Methuen, Massachusetts (Barnes and Noble operates in Salem, NH) 8101 Movie Drive, Brighton, Michigan 4135 Miller Road, Flint, Michigan 43075 Crescent Boulevard, Novi, Michigan (Barnes and Noble operates in Northville) 1122 South Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, Michigan 460 West 14 Mile Road, Troy, Michigan  3577 River Rapids Drive Northwest, Coon Rapids, Minnesota (Barnes and Noble operates in Blaine) 866 Rosedale Center, Roseville, Minnesota 8472 Tamarack Bay, Woodbury, Minnesota 11745 Olive Boulevard, Creve Coeur, Missouri 1519 South Brentwood Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 10990 Sunset Hills Plaza, Sunset Hills, Missouri 2833 King Avenue West, Billings, Montana 13105 Birch Street, Omaha, Nebraska 7201 Dodge Street, Omaha, Nebraska (Barnes and Noble used to operate a store at Crossroads Mall across the street. But it closed in 2020.) 1445 West Sunset Road, Henderson, Nevada 10950 West Charleston Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada 2190 North Rainbow Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada 4995 South Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada 290 Commons Way, Bridgewater Township, New Jersey 135 Highway 35, Eatontown, New Jersey 4010 Dearborn Circle, Mount Laurel, New Jersey 327 Mount Hope Avenue, Rockaway, New Jersey 2240 Q Street Northeast, Albuquerque, New Mexico 1 Crossgates Mall Road, Albany, New York 80-16 Cooper Avenue, Atlas Park, New York 2015 Walden Avenue, Cheektowaga, New York (Barnes and Noble operates in Williamsville) 231 Airport Plaza, Farmingdale, New York 1 North Galleria Drive, Middletown, New York (Barnes and Noble operates in Newburgh) 2 Penn Plaza, New York, New York 10 Columbus Circle, New York, New York 3480 Amelia Drive, Orchard Park, New York 1000 Hyland Drive, Rochester, New York 130 Staten Island Mall, Staten Island, New York 2130 Nesconset Highway, Stony Brook, New York 425 Jericho Turnpike, Syosset, New York 7836 Rea Road, Charlotte, North Carolina 6801 Northlake Mall Drive, Charlotte, North Carolina 8825 North Six Forks Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 252 South Stratford Road, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 2101 Richmond Road, Beachwood, Ohio 5001 Monroe Street, Toledo, Ohio 30121 Detroit Road, Westlake, Ohio 300 Norman Center Court, Norman, Oklahoma 2605 Southwest Cedar Hills Boulevard, Beaverton, Oregon 5 Oakway Center, Eugene, Oregon 7227 Southwest Bridgeport Road, Tigard, Oregon 940 Plaza Boulevard, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 801 Bethlehem Pike, North Wales, Pennsylvania 1001 Baltimore Pike, Springfield, Pennsylvania 190 Hillside Road, Cranston, Rhode Island 142 Providence Place, Providence, Rhode Island (Barnes and Noble has a store in Smithfield, which serves the market in some way.) 2801 Wilma Rudolph Boulevard, Clarksville, Tennessee (Books A Million operates here) 202 Morrell Road, Knoxville, Tennessee 4000 Arlington Highlands Boulevard, Arlington, Texas 5500 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, Texas 4601 West Freeway, Fort Worth, Texas 5061 Westheimer Road, Houston, Texas 3025 Kirby Drive, Houston, Texas 11745 Interstate 10 West, San Antonio, Texas 255 East Basse Road, San Antonio, Texas 9595 Six Pines Drive, The Woodlands, Texas 19419 Gulf Freeway, Webster, Texas 4801 North University Avenue, Provo, Utah 29 Church Street, Burlington, Vermont 1201 Hayes Street, Arlington, Virginia 5871 Crossroads Center Way, Baileys Crossroads, Virginia 11054 Lee Highway, Fairfax, Virginia 11270 Bulloch Drive, Manassas, Virginia 6701 Frontier Drive, Springfield, Virginia 21031 Triple Seven Road, Sterling, Virginia 1744 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach, Virginia 2904 Prince William Parkway, Woodbridge, Virginia (Books A Million and Barnes and Noble both now operate here.) 2415 4th Avenue West, Olympia, Washington 16549 Northeast 74th Street, Redmond, Washington 1501 4th Avenue, Seattle, Washington   9980 Newport Highway, Spokane, Washington 17501 Southcenter Prkway, Tukwila, Washington 811 Southeast 160th Avenue, Vancouver, Washington 2173 Zeier Road, Madison, Wisconsin Would have these locations survived if Borders was somehow bought out by Barnes and Noble or Books A Million, or another entity.  Would it have been like how OfficeMax survives under Office Depot's ownership?? Or would have these stores changed to the Barnes and Noble or Books A Million name?? Would have all these locations have survived to be around today if Borders had survived? I would like to hear what you have to say!! Thank you for reading and God bless!!