If people are so sad to see it go why didn't they support it by buying its goods?

Should be a big boon for conservative votes! A town that doesn't read is probably a Republican Town.

No, it isn't actually, all of the elected officials are Democrats. But few vote.

Vulcan: You've got that right. Republicans don't like people reading, but they sure do like them breeding!

sounds Democratic to me.

That's right make this political. This is neither republican nor democrat.

Big corporations need to make large profits to keep stockholders happy. Obviously Laredo could not do that. What this does offer, is achance for a localto open a new mom and pop business- possibly one of the employees losing their job.

They were dealt lemons make lemonaide!

You want to know the truth about why Laredo is hurting? It is the drug trade. Laredo is one of the major ports for drug smuggling into the US right next to Miami and SoCal. I grew up in Laredo and I could tell you that drugs are everywhere from high schools all the way down to elementary. Yes, elementary schools. Now, a huge chunk of the population is in the drug trade so kids cant resist getting involved because their cousin, brother, or even father shows up with a brand new Escalade due to their newfound wealth so they drop out at an early age and jump right into the drug wagon. Friends see that so they jump in as well and so on. Its a bad chain reaction that doesnt stop. Now, obviously MSNBC has never traveled there so they make it seem like some backwoods, rural, poverty stricken city but its not. Almost everyone drives a brand new truck or car and own very nice homes so the city is actually doing pretty good because of the trade since Nuevo Laredo is right next door. Another thing is when you visit the Mall on a weekend you see almost every teenager with new brand name clothing and gold chains with nextels. And again, courtesy of daddy working with the cartels. And its true that almost half of the youth are uneducated but thats because Junior wants to be a "narco" so why should he waste his time in school when he can start making the big bucks with daddy's associates from across the border. Its like a cancer. Its hard to top it and just completely ruins society. And unfortunately,we have the same problem down here in Miami. Every kid here wants to be a "baller".

Yes, open up mom and pop bookstores there. They will thrive. In the meantime go to the library and get them to install more computers so you can surf the web and purchase books online for cheaper than you can find in a bookstore. Geesh, no one needs a brick and mortar store anymore.

Hmmm - the bottom line is that the residents of Laredo do not read the currently published books... Simple fact. They must do other things for entertainment or they get there books from the library or they buy their books from the mall bookstores. No wait did you actually do a Google search on bookstores in Laredo, TX? Turns out Google lists 10!!! Including the Texas A&M bookstore. What kind of reporting is this anyway?

Newspapers are going away. Books are going away. Just like at one time scrolls of papirus went away. Other medium takes its place becuse it is more convenient to the user...simple fact of life.

Actually, I was surprised that Texas had bookstores...not that a significant city was losing a bookstore.

But he had read the constitution and did not read every Marxist, Socialist or Communist book ever published. Also, he didn't write to fiction books about his family and try to pass them off as fact.

Oh for Pete's sake! I couldn't stand Bush, but that is ridiculous.

There is no apathy towards books, there is a horrrible economy at work here. Who can afford $6.99 plus tax for a paperback and $20 and up for a hardcover very often?

Library's are booming. So are bookswapping clubs.

Libraries, not Library's, are booming.

If you think Bush read the constitution, then obviously you aren't familiar with the Patriot Act.

Even if the new store is bigger, um...isn't it a little pathetic a city of a quarter million only has one store? I live in a town of 12k and we have two good stores and a couple more good ones 10 miles down the road..sheeesh

You dont live in mexico. This is what spanish people live like. No furniture, mattresses for beds, ten to a house, but they do the jobs we wont! Here is what will happen when latinos breed to the point of majority. Enjoy your thousands of mexican restaurants and no book stores America, thank God I'll be dead....

Pat-

That's right, I live in the USA. Unfortunately, uneducated and bitter racists conflate Mexican and Spanish and while using incorrect sentence syntax and punctuation make sweeping, pejorative, generalizations about them.

I do, however, agree with your prayer.

Hey Pat could you speed the last part up of your post.

You really are a jerk!

Pat, can't hear you, he is suffering from a medical disorder, called Cranial Recto Inversion. A major side effect, it severely effects the ability to hear. If anyone doesn't know what this disorder is, ask, I will explain in detail.

I agree with pat! keep em on their side of the fence, and I can't stand mexican food or rather what they call food. they tried to make me take spanish in high school but I refused and took Latin because I would rather speak a dead useless language (cept to those in the medical field) than I would spanish or mexican!

you are so stupid you don't realize mexican is not a language.....

Not having NPR and PBS is no great lost unless you are an idiot and you need someone to tell you how to live.

no NPR? where is this paradise?

To Bob Marshall:

Bush read the Constitution? He called it a "G-D piece of paper"! And who just wrote a fictional book about their life? Your darling, Sarah Palin! Not having NPR "no great lost"? Who's the idiot here?

this congress doesn't believe in the Constitution.

Bob Marshall- we get it. You're a conservative. PBS is hardly liberal. This is the home of Sesame Street. cultural programing and fine documetaries.

As for your first post- If Bush completed college, he most likey read books by Marx and many other liberal and conservative writers. A well rounded education means you open your mind to other ways of thinking. You cannot learn or lead without knowledge of the past or your enemy. You drank the cool-aid on this Constitution issue as well. The only trime in recent history that the Constitution has truly been tested by a President was Bush. Our laws are still presented through congress and voted on by the President. When questioned, they still go through a judicial porcess and end up in the Supreme Court. Sounds like our Constitution is doing just fine The fact that you're not happy with all the decisions made by the 3 branches of goverment proves that.

B Dalton was exclusively a book store, unlike its parent company, Barnes and Noble. Except for the Barnes and Noble banner theme and gift cards, it resembled every independent book store I've ever been in.

Seeing as 30% of the town is living below the poverty line, I would guess that access to the internet is not a priority expense for many Laredo residents.

Good one, Bigfoot.

Hey now I don't live in texas but I do enjoy hunting, watching Nascar, AND reading books but not all at the same time mind you. Just because you do one doesn't mean you can't do the others...

Yeah, why in the world would anyone who doesn't have internet access want to BUY a book for their child to have at home and call their own?? Thirty percent of the residents are living below the poverty line - paying their living expenses probably take priority over internet access.

I'm sure what you meant is most of them can't read ENGLISH! Not much market if the majority of the population doesn't speak/read the language of the books you sell.

As far as these "community" and "destination" bookstores, I have found them to be hangouts for losers/homeless who have nothing better to do all day, and suspected pedophiles, who want to take advantage of the fact that irresponsible parents drop their kids off unsupervised for hours on end. If you want to read alot, go to the library, or buy a Kindle.

Well, bob, I've found some other people who apparently can't read, because I'm down to #20 on this thread and it appears that only one or two people read that Laredo will eventually be getting a new bookstore. It's obvious from the comments most have also not read that the Laredo bookstore was profitable. In addition, Laredo has a library and plans to open two more branches. In any case, after reading more than a few paragraphs into the story, it's annoying to discover that the headline is misleading, that the loss of Laredo's bookstore is only temporary. I don't appreciate journalists wasting my time.

Article: what you read after you read the headline.

Well said riverstomp.

I seem to remember that reform was strongly sponsored by Ted Kennedy as well.

In Texas? Kennedy never held office in Texas. (Someone else who can't read history!)

Except that mostly Hispanic areas like Laredo are primarily Catholic and they buy their one-per-household Catholic approved bible at Catholic gift shops. Or in King James version: Art thou a Sodomist who shouldest be stoned by brethren who fearest thy Lord? Verily I sayest unto you, wretched sinner gettest thou far away from me and my host, and stayest in thou pagan cities to await final judgement in 2012.