The final few Borders bookstores in the Washington area have begun liquidating, leaving avid readers — at least those who could look up from their eReaders — bummed out by the loss. “It’s sad, this is the only one left,” said William Ross, browsing at the Borders in Pentagon City. “Online, you buy what you need. At a bookstore, you browse around. This is going to hurt authors.”

Borders Group filed for bankruptcy in February, closing its downtown D.C. shop and many other Washington-area locations. Last week, executives of the Ann Arbor, Mich., chain announced that the 399 stores remaining nationwide would begin liquidating and close by the end of September.