Hastings Books Music & Video

I’ve never heard of or been to a Hastings. This is by far the best place I’ve visited in St. Joe during my week there. There were plenty of parking spots. It is connected to a strip mall with a Chinese buffet where I were to meet my brothers for dinner.
I entered the establishment with expectations that it may be like a Barnes. Holy cow, I was wrong. It was more than just books and mangas. This is Nerd-​vana! My husband, whom hates shopping like most men, says he lost track of time because he was too busy looking for his collectible toys. For the first half an hour, we were at opposite ends of the store and only found each other when we met at the action figure section.
We went to Hastings for him but I came out with 3 action figures for myself at like $ 7 a piece. Very affordable. From the musician, to the nerd, to the book worm, and the movie addict, there really is something for everyone.
The employees weren’t looking over our shoulders but they weren’t extremely helpful either. So I took a star off for their customer service because apparently it takes 3 employees to operate a cash register. This is a small town, mind you, so everyone knew each other. I just wished they had kept their chatting to a minimum.

The place is slowly going downhill. Their selection of things are slowly going away. And most of the time you need to order the books you want. But my main concern are the employees (again). There was a lady employee kind of being annoying to another male employee *while we were leaving and buying our things*. He was obviously fed up with her and he kept on giving us the «she’s annoying and needs to stop» look. She kept bothering him. Yeah I wouldn’t like to work with her either if she does that stuff. I don’t mean to be mean to the lady but I felt bad for the guy. It’s just unprofessional to annoy your own employees don’t you think?

Like a combination of Vintage Stock, Spencer’s (nothing too adult!), and nerd heaven. Some stuff seems pretty overpriced but hey, eBay and Amazon ruined a lot of in-​store purchases in my book.
We literally spent a little over 2 hours in here looking at e v e r y t h i n g. Comic books, video games, gaming consoles and accessories, lots of animé, CDs/​DVDs/​Blu-​Ray titles, books, toys, and themed novelties (like bottle openers, glassware, clothing items, etc.). Hello Kitty, superhero everything Marvel/​DC, My Little Pony, Star Wars, Pokemon, Adventure Time, etc. etc. etc. There’s just so much to browse! Stay away if you’re an impulse shopper because this will be your demise. And if you hate when store associates ask «if you’re finding everything ok,» this is your place.