Barnes & Noble

I’m so sad to see that book stores are going out of business. Barnes and Nobles has always been one of my favorites and I’m glad that I have one near by. The store is nice and bright, people ate friendly and my grand daughter loves going there. We can spend hours reading books, playing with lego and just talking over a cup of tea in their cozy cafeteria. I know that books are much cheaper online but I think it’s really important to keep stores like this around.

Whoever said bookstores are dying off need to come here to see the beauty of being surrounded by stories unread. I love visiting here when I have time, especially when they have teacher appreciation week going on.
Today I was on a quest to find beginning readers for my class. Their children section is very well-​stocked with classics and new selections. At checkout, the cashier not only gave me 25 percent off the twenty readers I purchased but she also gave my a coupon on top of that. I saved over 30 bucks and know my students will fall in love with reading.

Overheard managers telling employees that they’d only get more hours if they sold more memberships.
I guess these people haven’t heard of amazon prime?

B&N in Corte Madera. Come and relax at our Starbucks but do not stay long. We’ve covered all the outlets so you cannot charge you laptop and work. Paid around $ 6 – 7 for a hot cocoa and a bagel w/​cream cheese. You would think the $.25 to charge my laptop would be easily paid for with that.

Good selection of books and knowledgeable staff. Bads: very little and uncomfortable seating to either enjoy a cup of coffee or sample a book pre purchase.

Three stars for the children’s section. It’s large and has a great selection of reads… plus some toys to keep the really wee ones from dying of boredom.
But now that my daughter is a teen and we have ventured out to the rest of the store… meh.
The costumer service has been grumpy, and I guess I’d rather give my money to an independent (okay, okay… also Amazon when I know exactly the title I’m looking for… budget constraints…)like Book Passages or Green Apple.

The five stars are more for Julie who rocks the NOOK department. I had minor problems with my Nook but all from my own doing. I finally took my Nook to B&N not expecting much, but Julie was so persistent and calm while I was on the brink of tears and about to give up, got my Nook working again. The book I ordered months before uploaded properly and I left feeling pounds lighter from yet ANOTHER electronic device that was starting to drive me crazy. Thank you, Julie.
B&N is a great store, but I prefer to shop at independent book stores. Not a slam to B&N of course, because all the employees are really really helpful and clearly work there for the love of books. I just try to keep it local and help the little guy.

I haven’t been to Barnes & Noble in years. This is because of Amazon and the library I have to admit. Also I can get books way cheaper at Costco if I choose to buy books. The sad sorry truth about bricks and mortar bookstores is that they are only used to take pictures of books that you can get cheaper at Amazon and Costco and get for free at the library. Still, I like to support bricks and mortar stores so I looked around for some things I might buy for my cousin for her birthday. I found a few cute note pads and some notecards. I’m real bag lady and they had a promotion running that if you bought anything in the store, you can get a beach bag for $ 12.99. I really wanted the beach bag. I went up to the curmudgeon who was the checkout guy and not only did he not offer me the beach bag, he didn’t want to give me a bag at all. Okay I get it with the bags already. But I said to him «can I have a bag please?» and he acted like I just clubbed a baby seal in front of him. He never offered me the beach bag and at this point I don’t give a rats butt weather Barnes & Noble stay open or not. Maybe that guy could find a job somewhere else, somewhere where grouches are appreciated. Maybe Sesame Street?

Whoa!!! If B&N doesn’t address their poor customer service, they will not be in business any longer. I was trying to GIVE them business. Hello, there are other options… Amazon, eBay, etc. Need I digress!!!

Why are the reviews so bad?! This place is great. First of all, there are so few bookstores around nowadays. They have free parking, it is right off the freeway, they have a coffee shop and their selection of toys and kids books is stellar! My son loves coming to play with the Thomas trains and I love how they have them well-​stocked. Even toy stores don’t have as many trains as this B&N.

Borders is gone, so for now (I can’t imagine much longer though) there’s only one big book seller left. It is hard to beat the selection, the roominess of the store, and the prices. We are in Marin County, so do yourself a favor and don’t expect to be treated nicely or receive outstanding service. That way, if you actually do, you can be pleasantly surprised.

Café service was that of a McDonald’s. What do you want? Next.
Fortunately the barista was a bit more helpful and pleasant. But for overpriced food and drinks, the customer service was lacking. I probably would get better service at McDonald’s.

You know, I really can’t complain. I mean, I could. I could say I missed Borders, which I do, or that I should probably go to Book Passages down the street, which I should. But I come here, and I love it here. I really do.
I wander in, and ignore the Starbucks trap to the right. Though, if you’re into that kind of thing, that’s pretty convenient. Not only Starbucks, but a selection of items from the Cheesecake Factory as well.
The firs thing I notice is that for someone like me, who wanders in without knowing what I want (or, let’s be clear, I would have already ordered it from Amazon), the set up is genius. A shelving until directly to my right shows me top sellers in fiction, non-​fiction, and local authors (always ready for the next Anne Lamott read!). On the flat tables down the center of the store are little collections of books: the latest foodie books, fiction you must read (and there are really great picks here; books that I have already read and shaken my head in agreement that those picks are absolute fiction must-​reads), humor fiction, etc. Each time, there’s a different array of subjects on the flat tables. Perfect for the perusing shopper, someone who is looking to be inspired.
I have always gotten help from the customer service center in the middle of the store. Sometimes I’ll just sit in front of the reference section (I’m an aspiring fiction author) and just leaf through books, read a couple pages here, a couple pages there, sprawled out on the floor, and no one bothers me. I love that. Though one time, the Starbucks guy did roll through with a sample of the Caramel Flan Latte, which I helped myself to.
I would give it the complete 5 stars if there were locations to charge my laptop. Though there is a pleasant seating area by the Starbucks, also by the window which is nice, there is nowhere to plug in! Yikes. Would update the last star if that were fixed. I can’t sit there, sip a latte, and keep buying books I probably don’t need if I can’t charge :)

Pretty big Barnes and Nobles and it’s in a really nice shopping center. Friendly staff, and had exactly what I was looking for. I came in to buy one item and came out with two instead. Go figure.

As a store to shop in, it gets the thumbs down from me (expensive, and service is very very slooooow).
But as a place to pass some time with my toddler, it gets 2 thumbs up. It’s very child friendly on a quiet day. A nice train table to play with, and child sized chairs, a little reading spot and best of all, a table of lego to play with.
We’ll continue to call in when we’re close by, but only to hang-​out and not to shop.

I know… I know… I’m reviewing a big corporate chain. They’re essentially the Starbucks of bookstores (hell, they even have a Starbucks inside their store!).
If I was a better person, I would be shopping at a small mom & pop store (similar to the place in the movie «You’ve Got Mail»). But let’s face the facts, people — Barnes & Noble is large, conveniently located, reasonably priced, and has everything you need under one roof. My only complaint is that they have TOO much under one roof. In addition to their vast book selection (every category you could possibly imagine), they also sell DVDs, music, coffee, food, toys, etc. It’s a bit overwhelming.
This particular location is located in the Corte Madera Town Center. And in many ways, this store feels like a shopping center within a shopping center.
But at the end of the day, I would say that too much is better than too little. Although it takes a while to browse the whole store, I always wind up finding what I need. Plus, I can always grab an espresso for the road. Score!

I love coming here and get in the zone of knowledge. Lately i have been into learning a different language, so I stopped by languages section. So many great variety of dictionaries and different ways of learning a language. Got a book on Porthguese for DUMMIES eu adoro!

When I need a place to kill some time. This is my go to. I can get lost in here for hours. It’s like being lost in my own imagination. Love the staff.

This is a great big bookstore. Just yesterday I went looking for a dictionary, and they had tons of dictionaries of all kinds, small and big. .. . Before that I had stopped at a couple of other bookstores that had nowhere near the choices.
It’s the same as when I look for any book. Barnes & Nobles has the biggest selection.
There’s really nothing like going to a bookstore and browsing through the books to find the right one for me.
My only complaint is that their service tends to be a little slow, but then, I really can’t blame them for having the smallest possible staff on at any given time, given that it’s a hard time with bookstores these days.
I’d highly recommend them when you’re looking for that one book and need many choices. And the café is really nice, and the little café area very comfortable for writing and reading and computer work.

Not sure why there is a customer service desk in the middle of the store if there’s nobody to staff it.
Friend & I were standing there for a good 10 minutes, waiting for someone to help us. Nobody showed up to assist us, while 3 – 4 sales associates strolled by us without giving us a second thought. We finally decided to use the computers ourselves and search for our books ourselves. Even the lady behind us wanted us to search a book for her.
B&N, you fail.