Comments on: What’s in store for our Barnes & Noble bookstores?

By: emily

emily — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:01:00 +0000

@Bubba Greene: The cafe at Barnes & Noble is not a Starbucks affiliate or franchise; they just sell Starbucks products. The other items, such as foods and sweets, are purchased from companies like the Cheesecake Factory.

By: Bubba Greene

Bubba Greene — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:16:25 +0000

Interesting discovery. On my last visit to B&N, where my lady spent over $60, I tried to get a cuppa c using my Starbucks gift card. They don’t accept them at the B&N Starbucks but they will accept a B&N card for coffee. Which tells me the Starbucks are operated by B&N as a part of their enterprise and they are not, “financially” connected to Starbucks. Point being B&N WANTS them there to draw potential customers even if some just look and loaf like I do mostly.

By: Jessica Y

Jessica Y — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:28:36 +0000

Please come back to us, Ram’s Head.

I miss your great selection, well-read staff, and sections NOT marked “Paranormal YA Romance.”

By: Kevin A

Kevin A — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 14:49:38 +0000

Seems that many consider B&N more of a library than a books store.

I buy locally when I can. I like to look around the store, and I support the local economy. It’s important for me to buy locally when I can. If it’s not in stock, I’ll order on-line since shipping is quicker than if I have the store order the book.

One other problem that I’ve found is sometimes B&N has a book on-line for less than I would pay in my local store. So I purchase online instead of supporting the local store.

That said, people spending time in the store and taking advantage of what they offer locally would not seem to be as big a concern as would those who then leave the store and make purchases elsewhere.

By: Mary J.

Mary J. — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 07:01:32 +0000

I’m of two minds on the issues surrounding B&N bookstores. On the one hand, I absolutely love the feel of a book in my hand. I love to read, passionately, as evidenced by the 5+ books I go through in an average week. I also review books for fun and a little profit. But for those of us who like instant gratification, the ebooks and Amazon are wonderful I’m introduced to new (to me) authors through sites like BookBub, read a sample, then go find their back-list. Most of the time, the libraries don’t -have- much by some of the newer/less reviewed/self-published authors. Barnes and Noble certainly won’t have any self-published books in their stores. They may have them on line, but it’s iffy. While I like some of the things that come out of major publishing houses, they’re not the only game in town anymore. It’s also a factor of not wanting an algorithm to tell me what I SHOULD be reading. The stock in Barnes & Noble and other chain stores is just the tip of the iceberg with regard to what’s really out there. If I only wanted to be reading what the algorithm says I should be reading, I’d go to Wal-mart for my books. I’m introduced to a broader range of merchandise through sites like Amazon. While yes, buying on Amazon means that some money is not going back into the community, I try to offset that by making it a point to shop at local retailers other things they offer. I’d much rather support local businesses like B&D Comics, Oliveto, Too Many Books, Given’s Books and Baylee’s Best rather than give my money to a chain retailer that may or may not promote a fair working environment for its employees and may or may not have an active, engaged presence in the community.

While I’m also not a huge fan of hours-long-loitering in businesses, I can certainly understand it. Like people have said – as long as there have been bookstores, there have been people who’ve hung around, read, and maybe made a purchase. Like with everything in life, there are people who take advantage of what’s offered to varying degrees. In my family, we’re all readers. When we go into a bookstore, I know we’re going to be there for no less than an hour. So places like the B&N Cafe’ are great. I don’t take much time to find what I want, so I can go have a drink with the books I know I’m buying while everyone else takes their time shopping. Yes, it DOES bother me when I see people who are abusing the treat (the ability to sit and read IN the store). However, if the practice didn’t have its advantages for the company, B&N would have folded the chairs up and poured the coffee out years ago.

I also refuse to go into the Valley View B&N store unless there’s a good reason – IE: An author I like signing there. I’ve never had a positive interaction with the staff in that store, parking and navigating the mall isn’t something I enjoy, and I’ve always found that the Tanglewood store has the better selection (and more engaged staff).

By: Kristen

Kristen — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:34:02 +0000

NIce attitude, james west.

I’d prefer to keep the one at Tanglewood and get rid of VV. The parking on that side of the mall is one big cluster**** and every time they plop another chain restaurant down in the middle of the lot it gets worse. Sign me up as one who prefers a book book as opposed to an ebook…I like the feel of a book, the look of my bookcase with books in it, the jacket art and everything else about real books. A country that can’t support its book stores is a sad place.

By: vpalmer

vpalmer — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 16:44:04 +0000

Many years ago I loved B & N so much we would drive to Charlottesville to their store since there was not one in Roanoke at the time. We spent hundreds of dollars over the years in B & N. I love home decor books and gardening books and I like to hold a real book.
Over the years after Roanoke got two B & N stores I still visited and bought lots of books but it was a real turn off to me for people to be sitting over coffee, etc with books they were not going to buy. Several times I ask to order a book they already had on the shelf because I did’t want to buy a bent or soiled book and really got a questional look from the clerk.
I do flip through a book when looking to purchase one but I have never sit for hours in a B & N to read instead of purchase and I have never had any coffee or dessert while looking at a book or magazine. It is more like a library only thank goodness they don’t allow food or drink at the library.

By: Tony Hampton

Tony Hampton — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 05:43:29 +0000

If need be, close the Tanglewood Barnes & Noble and keep the one at Valley View & Christiansburg open. The one in Christiansburg does extremely well and is a great center for college students of both Virginia Tech and Radford University to come shop for books or do homework at Starbucks Cafe.

By: Ashley

Ashley — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 23:42:06 +0000

I agree with crooked road. People will always look at books and other materials in any brick&mortar location. Prior to Nooks and Kindles people did that. This is nothing new. My issue with B&N is more that I don’t want to fight mall traffic for a parking space, when I can be in the comfort of my home and order exactly what I like off line. Further, I enjoy that sites like Amazon gives suggestions of other books that may suit your tastes/research needs. As a PhD student, the local B&N wouldn’t have the books I need — but a larger scale site like Amazon does, so I am already a Prime member for textbooks alone. Sites like Amazon (and I have had BOTH a Nook and a Kindle, and by far the Kindle is a better value with more books to purchase) also provide e-books instantly, sometimes as a student I need one specific text RIGHT NOW — and perhaps I can find that on a Kindle, when I couldn’t find it in an actual store. At W&M the school bookstore IS a Barnes & Noble, and perhaps that is where they should funnel their sites. What if the B&N’s here hooked in with Western, Roanoke, and Hollins to provide their textbooks?

By: Richard

Richard — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 18:20:45 +0000

I am a writer and I read voraciously. Recently someone gave me a B&N gift card so I went to the one at Tanglewood and bought a guide book for Ireland. But otherwise I buy all my books on-line except for the really good used bookstores like Too Many Books in Roanoke and Mermaid in Williamsburg. But you won’t find anything in B&N except books from the big-name trade publishers and these are usually so sanitized, academic, or big-name focused as to have no realy value as literature. Also, it was a Sunday afternoon when a bookstore should be crammed with people. There was hardly anyone there. Even the employees seemed bored. A place like this can’t last.