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Something disturbing has occurred. Always enjoyed going to my Barnes and Noble on a Saturday and relaxing in their very comfy club chairs with my purchased coffee, purchased cookie, and soon to be purchased book or magazine. Went there one Saturday, the chairs were moved up front to an uncomfortable location. Went back the next Saturday and the chairs were gone completely. The bar tables and stools in the cafe which are rock hard and NOT comfy were the only seating options.
Asked a clerk that said she didn't know. Why would they take away the chairs completely? Any ideas? Now I hardly EVER go in that bookstore. I am missing out on my comfortable full sensory experience - the food, the coffee, the great music, the reading, the pleasant murmors of the crowds - and the book store has lost my sales.
I believe what was intended to be a cozy and relaxing atmosphere not only at Barnes, but Borders also was misinterpreted by a few as their home away from home. I have not witnessed what was mentioned here as far as self-gratification , but I have seen people in these chairs with their shoes AND socks off, crashed out, books and coffee cups everywhere and just a complete mess. The cafe is not immune from this either, as people take up space with their laptops, books, mess, etc. Sad to say, it's not the kids who do this, but so-called "adults".
I like to "flip" through a few books and magazines, but I take care of them AND return them to the exact locations that I got them. I do buy as well .. When I do, I inspect thoroughly.
Just give people something nice and it gets abused and ruined.
They seemed to reduce the number in our local Barnes and Noble too. My husband has back and knee problems. So it is difficult for him to stand very long perusing books. It was helpful to have the chairs and I imagine some others may have some similar issues. So....I say, bring back the chairs!!!!!!!!
Like with any change in retail policy etc., as someone mentioned earlier, those of us who are unhappy with it would probably do well to write the local manager and corporate headquarters. Might not do any good, but sometimes it does!
I am glad to hear they got rid of those chairs. They were a big reason why I switched to Books A Million. I am a big Biography, History, World Wars and Non Fiction in general fan and the store where I shopped had the chairs in those areas and it was a pain in the ass having to navigate around them. Not too mention that some where yacking on their cell phones or to each other making it loud too boot. Good riddance I say.
From the explanations given, I can see why the retailers would remove the chairs because of the extra space for merchandise and the "problems" the chairs can have. I still think the benefits of the chairs to the customers outweigh the negatives. It's not so big of a deal that I would seek out the manager. I think it is similar to a customer's response to poor service, you just don't go back. I go for pleasure, not to correct the wrongs of the retail world. From my perspective and some will disagree, I don't want to have to go through any extra steps when spending my money. The stores should anticipate my needs.
, but I have seen people in these chairs with their shoes AND socks off, crashed out, books and coffee cups everywhere and just a complete mess.
OH yeah that was another reason because people would take off sandals and shoes and put them on books. So those stinky books and books with small spills go back onto the shelf. What's on the shelf is usually all the store has so always check your books before you buy them, especially kid's books.
I used to get into many arguments with customers about their feet on books and we had a policy in the store that ALL customers had to have shoes on because that is disgusting and not sanitary.
Give people an inch and they take a foot.
Next time you go to one of those bookstores look at what people are doing.
OH, BTW, one guy was pleasuring himself to bridal magazines when he was caught and another guy andother time was to playboy. ewww sticky bridal mags lol
I used to work at Barnes and Noble and I'll tell you why: People sit in those for hours, spill drinks and drop food, leave tons of books laying on the floor, sit down and have long conversations on their cellphone, rip pages out of books and magazines, teens and other people gather in them by the group, teens sit on them and make out. If you want the book or magazine then buy it. Nothing wrong with looking at books at the store, but if you need a comfy chair then you're planning to be there too long. They should take out all tables too. It's a place of business, not a library. New York City Barnes and Nobles and Borders barely have any chairs.
I would NEVER sit in one of those. There were two occasions at our store where men were caught masturbating in those chairs with hands under magazines...disgusting. Semen found on the seats. Yeah keep sitting on those filthy chairs because I can tell you they are NEVER cleaned.
Oh man!! That is just not right!! My BF loves that store but we never sit in any of the chairs - they always look dirty.
I used to work at a book store too, and agree w/ everything Raven1976 and bazzwell said. on top of everything they've said, as a customer, I get sick and tired of other customers calling "dibs" on a chair, or saving a seat for literally hours on end. seriously people, once your butt is off of that chair, it's fair game to anyone else in the store who wants to sit down! you do not own the chair! as an employee, I can't tell you how many arguments I've seen break out b/c someone thought they could claim a seat for hours.
if I need time to flip through a book, I sit on the floor. honestly, from an employee viewpoint, I'd rather people buy the book then return it if they didn't like it rather than sit around for hours trying to decide if they will like it or not. the extra paper work in doing a return is preferred over the overall costs of having people spend hours on end in the store flipping through dozens of books and magazines
oh, and here's a really annoying thing I've seen people do: write on the books or magazines! for example, I once caught a girl filling out a practice SAT test from a book, literally filling it out. or you get people filling in sudoku or crosswords puzzles. some of them try to write very softly as if they could go back and erase the marks later, but it's noticeable and it's annoying and costly for us!
Something disturbing has occurred. Always enjoyed going to my Barnes and Noble on a Saturday and relaxing in their very comfy club chairs with my purchased coffee, purchased cookie, and soon to be purchased book or magazine. Went there one Saturday, the chairs were moved up front to an uncomfortable location. Went back the next Saturday and the chairs were gone completely. The bar tables and stools in the cafe which are rock hard and NOT comfy were the only seating options.
Asked a clerk that said she didn't know. Why would they take away the chairs completely? Any ideas? Now I hardly EVER go in that bookstore. I am missing out on my comfortable full sensory experience - the food, the coffee, the great music, the reading, the pleasant murmors of the crowds - and the book store has lost my sales.
WOW, you've totally struck a chord with me!
THANK GOD my local B & N hasn't removed their comfy chairs...at ours we have four of them, two by the Social Sciences / History section (one of my favorites) and two by the Travel section (my other favorite). A couple weeks ago, during prime Christmas season, I noticed the two near the Social Sciences section were replaced with a table selling packaged board games! I don't know if it's still that way (was a week ago), but last time I was there I "scouted" one of the two remaining comfy chairs by moving one of the hard chairs near them so I could keep a constant eye for when their users left. A few seemed to know what I was doing and moved out right away! There's nothing better than sitting with a bunch of books and a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino (I buy something) in one of those super comfy chairs and just relaxing and browsing.
As for hurting the bottom line...well, on average I go to the store every few weeks to sit in the comfy chairs. At least I used to (I'm not as much of a spender now). I usually spend 2-3 hours there. I rarely ever buy books anymore since I lack the bookshelf space at home and prefer library borrowing (unless I have a gift card or maybe books in the budget section), but I almost always buy at least a Frappuccino there (with my member card $3.00 or so), often one of their wonderful sandwiches or rolls (up to $6.00). Assuming an average of $2.50 / week, that's $130 / year + $25 / year membership card - $155 / year from me for Barnes and Noble. Actually, with books and stuff you're looking at more, since I do occasionally buy something. If they took away all the chairs, and turned it into something similar to the Casa de Libro (equivalent store) I visited in Spain, you'd see me there a lot less.
As for the chairs being dirty, that doesn't faze me. Almost any type of "dirt" can be found in a public environment. Don't even get started on restaurants. It's just the risk you take.
You know, I used to work at a very large Public Library in the 90's, and, the same stuff that people are saying happens at these big bookstores happened there.
You think a bridal magazine is bad? We caught a guy pleasuring himself to....get this.... The Guiness Book Of World Records....
We used to have these awesome lounge chairs...until this one old lady kept coming in and relieving herself over and over again in them.. # 1...and # 2!!!!
We would always find books and magazines in the bathrooms covered in semen...yuck.
I caught a guy pleasuring himself in the bathroom.
Someone stole our microwave out of our breakroom and walked out with it
We used to have a couple trannies that came in, they would come in the morning as a guy, then back at night as women.
We had this huge gay guy, that would wear a shirt that said "Canton's Biggest Queen" and a Hat that had his nickname "Virgin Frost" and he would go and hang out in the young adult section and talk to the young boys when they would look at the comics.
We had several flashers that would come in and show their "goods".
The same guy that really loved "reading" about World Records, he was caught pleasuring himself, standing in the bookcases, a row behind a young girl. Turns out, her dad was a cop....BUSTED. Poor guy got roughed up a bit
Same place where one of the girls that worked there, she made the mistake of helping someone, he turned into a stalker, literally calling there for her multiple times a day, showing up there, waiting in the parking lot, etc. She had to have a security escort, or myself, walk her out every night, and then I would follow her home to make sure she got there ok.
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, but I have seen people in these chairs with their shoes AND socks off, crashed out, books and coffee cups everywhere and just a complete mess. The cafe is not immune from this either, as people take up space with their laptops, books, mess, etc. Sad to say, it's not the kids who do this, but so-called "adults".
.. When I do, I inspect thoroughly.
