Kinokuniya vs Borders

I have long wanted to make some price comparisons between Kino and Borders, and just the other day i was given an hour to wander around Orchard and I decided that I would need some inspirational books for my upcoming heavy design project workload, for S****, D***A***N** & etc.

Note: Both Kino & Borders membership offers 10% off, and they each have seasonal extra % off at times. However the max for Kino would be 20% and it goes up to 40% for Borders.

Price Comparison
So I went to Kino (Jap magazine haven!) and looked around. I spotted this book, Logo Design Workbook (by PageOne) and it was selling for about 45+, and another, The Fundementals of Branding for about 49+. (Accurate prices can be found via Bookweb Singapore.)

Guess how much it costs in Borders?
$50+ and $59+ respectively. Gee. Even with their 20% off(promotion), It was still more expensive than the 10% I can get with Kino membership.

I guess the only time fairly worthy to buy from Borders would be when they have bargain sales and also when they send out coupons which you have to print out (hrm, not environmental friendly here) and show at point of purchase. The coupons are most worthy when they are 30-40% off, with an extra 10% off if you’re a Borders member (which i am too).

You can get the coupons which are sent every now and then to your emails if you subscribe to their mailing list.
(I quite like their EDMs, nicely designed – probably the one of the very few things better than Kino)

Still, i think the price is slightly more exp even at 30%+10% off, when Kino has 20% off (which happens from time to time, gotta look out for their emails).

Book Condition & Selection
Okay, i love both Borders and Kino, but the books at Borders are way too cui. Like seriously, the condition of the books are horrible. They’re all frayed and too well flipped. You have to count on luck to get a good book, and Kino has a better design selection (and manga selection… Jap magazines selection… etc.).

Reading space
Borders is pretty well spaced out, provides seats for you and has a couple of cafes near it. Kino orchard has Coffee Club inside, but it gets pretty warm there as there’s sun shining through the windows. Carpeting is a plus.

Guess the only time i’ll visit Parkway is when i need a quick book fix – cab fare to Border’s Parkway is cheaper. :p

Would love to do a comparison between Page One (Vivocity) and Kino though, probably visit them soon. However i doubt they’re any cheaper for me as i’m not a member of Page One(is there even a membership offering?). I really like the interesting book choices they provide over there!