As soon as the Borders Books in Carousel Center confirmed on Jan. 7 that the mall anchor store would be closing and not renewing their lease, signs went up in the store – 20% off, everything must go. Although the Syracuse area will miss Borders Books, which devoted display space and event programming to works by local authors, central New York cookbook collectors now have a rare opportunity to add new books to their personal libraries at greatly reduced prices.
A large selection of cookbooks, along with health and diet plan recipe books, were still displayed for sale on the second floor of the Carousel Center Borders as of Friday, Jan. 22. The selection of hard cover cookbooks outnumbers the selection of paperbacks, but the store still has deep inventory of both types of cookbooks. In addition to the regularly priced stock upstairs, bargain-priced cookbooks with average prices of around $7 are on display on the first floor near the escalators.
Syracuse Food was able to check out the remaining cookbook inventory at the Carousel Center store, and noted large selections of:
- baking books
- ethnic cookbooks divided by U.S. Region or foreign country
- latest offerings from celebrity and Food Network chefs, including boxed sets
- food writing by authors like Ruth Reichl, Anthony Bourdain and Mark Bittman
- books about wine, hors d'oerves and food for entertaining
Although prices on some of the store inventory have been slashed to 80% off, most of the cookbook inventory including the bargain-priced cookbooks on the first floor was still at 20% off as of Jan. 22. According to a store employee, staff was told that the store will remain open until sometime in mid-March. Additional price reductions will likely be offered in the few weeks.
Syracuse Food was able to pick up Sally Fallon and Mary Enig's Nourishing Traditions, paperback, 2nd edition, reduced to $21.60 from $27, and 2010 James Beard award winner Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table, hardcover, reduced to $32 from $40. Still on the shelves were the 2009 Gourmet Today cookbook, John Besh's My New Orleans: The Cookbook, Larousse Gastronomique: The World's Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia, and Julia Child's classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
According to a news story published by Syracuse.com, the two-level Borders bookstore opened in the Carousel Center Lord & Taylor wing in 1994. But the 33,000 s.f. Store was lost space and traffic in 2007 when the mall developers closed off the Borders Books parking lot entrance to build the still-unopened expansion of Carousel Center.
What cookbooks will you be adding to your cookbook shelf from the Carousel Center Borders Books inventory clearance? Get Syracuse Food delivered free to your inbox – click Subscribe at the top or bottom of this column.
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