Barnes & Noble

A huge bookstore still open! Can you believe it? I thought they were all extinct at this point.
This one is huge too. Upstairs they have a beautiful coffee shop. They serve Starbucks coffee and Cheesecake factory cheese cake.
It is a beautiful bookstore both inside and out. Probably my only complaint is that parking is not as easy as in other places and you will have to pay a few bucks…
Come here and support them so they stay in business… :)

I walk over and stood in front of the register. There were two ladies and a man behind the counter. They all looked at me and kept talking to each other. I had a book in my hand, clearly I wanted to purchase it. Even if I only had a question, they never greeted me and asked me what I needed. I put my book on the counter and the two ladies gave me a rude look. How dare I interrupt their conversation about what they did this weekend?
I don’t expect them to run over to help me, but come on, this is your job. I do expect them to ring me up when I’m at the register. They could have asked me to wait, but I guess a conversation about how much fun they had Saturday night was more important.
This location is very clean, with two floors of books and has a Starbucks on the side. So there are some ups about this place. I’ll continue to come here to preview my books before I buying, since this is a convenient location for me. And hopefully, the customer service will get better.

Possibly one of my favorite Barnes and noble locations in the Bay Area. They are open early and they are open late. They are located on the Bay Street mall which is great to do some shopping or to grab a bite to eat. This location has two floors of books and they also have a Starbucks. Parking is right next to the location and they also validate the first couple of hours depending on how long you have been there. Because this location is where the mall is, it is busier than other locations but you can still manage to grab a spot to read or do work. The staff here are nice and helpful when you are able to find them. Everything is organized according to genre of readings and they also have a children’s section of lots of books on the second floor. Check this place out while shopping at the Bay Street mall.

Always a big fan of Barnes and Noble. They have a huge collection and sometimes, even with the electronic readers, sometimes it’s still better to physically hold and read an actual book.

Nice store. Generally very clean. But highly disappointed they have no horror section. Difficult to find what I am looking for.

One of my only pet peeves I have that perpetuates biased towards the overall experience of a business is waiting-​time. How long does a business make their customers wait. For example, long, long lines with only one cashier open. Or, are sales representatives on the floor to help with questions?
I came to get Travis Barker’s book, «Can I Say,» as a gift for a friend. So I gravitated towards their biography section, and it was nowhere to be seen. Used my phone to reference online, where it was indicated they had it in. I did a couple laps on the bottom floor, and a couple laps on the top floor, and there were 0 representatives to offer help.
Major shout out to Nani and Kenda. Downstairs, the lines were so long that it created a gridlock in movement. And upstairs Nani seemed to be the only one cashiering as well. I waited in Nani’s line and she was helping a couple that would not stop asking questions. She was seriously helping them for like 15 minutes. I had time to go back downstairs, look for the books no more, go back upstairs, and she was still helping the same people. They asked so many questions that the couple in front of me finally left.
Nani helped me find the biography I was looking for by showing me where it was in the music section, (side note, it’s an autobiography). Kenda was serving coffee at the internal Starbucks, and she let me know I could pay for the book in her line, which was super helpful.
So in short this whole visit was really unpleasant and took a lot longer than it should have. Overall, a terrible experience was avoided by the saving grace of Nani and Kenda.
Nice job ladies. The business overall needs a new strategy. Long lines, foggy characterization, and virtually no help on the floor.

I generally enjoy going to this Barnes and Noble until I experienced my last visit. Now, I’m not sure I’ll be in a hurry to come back any time soon. I was in the children’s section with my child who is two years old. We were having a good time looking at books and stacking them. The fun stopped however when we had a staff member come up to my child and say, «you’re not going to stack these» and actually took the books my toddler was holding. The tone of the staff member was on the ruder side and my kid looked at me as if to ask, «What did I do?»
I usually have warm and fuzzy feelings about the Barnes and Noble here and have since it opened, but now, I’m more lukewarm. Aside from the not-​so-​friendly towards kids staff that work in the KIDS section, it seems to be a well-​appointed B & N. Plus, there is a café inside and the kids section does have a cute area where you care sit and look at books… just beware of staff members who don’t expect kids to act like kids.

Always quick service and tasty treats. Can’t wait to try the eggnog cheesecake next year.

I went here to buy some gifts, about $ 200. the sales woman was rude and dumb. I asked if she had a bag and she was just looking at me for a while and then just said «no». The fat gal was maybe good for McDonald’s but not a bookstore where literate people may stop by. I had to carry everything under my arm, very inconvenient. Just buy from Amazon and let these suckers go down the pipes.

I placed an order for 14 books yesterday using the coupon BNGift10 which stated $ 10 off orders over $ 75 AND delivery by Christmas. However, when I went to use the coupon it wouldn’t apply. I called customer service and was told to place the order and then to call back and they would apply it retroactively. I did so, customer service guaranteed it would arrive by (¹²⁄₂₄) and I would receive an email confirmation. I did not receive an email confirmation so I called again. Customer service told me that the coupon wasn’t applied and they would do so then (after checking that my items were eligible). Again, I was told that my items would be in by ¹²⁄₂₄. I received an email confirming that ²⁄₁₄ books purchased would be sent on time. The others would be sent by ¹²⁄₃₀. I called again, and I was told the coupon was not ever applied and there was nothing I could do to get my items placed in a timely manner. When I tried to cancel my order altogether because of the utter incompetence, I received an email notifying me that I couldn’t do so.
I am extremely disappointed in BN’s customer service and business practice in general. I chose your company, rather than Amazon, because I grew up reading at your locations.

I come here when I’m bored. The books are so expensive but I usually just grab one and sit in a corner to read it, or at the café they have upstairs. Always a fun place.

I came in with my family for a book event today. The setting for the event was upstairs right near the escalator. The store was pretty nicely laid out, the staff was friendly, the bathrooms were decent, but the café could have been better. I ordered a light green tea frappuccino with no whip. The wait was a bit long and when I got the drink there was whip cream. Since the wait was so long I didn’t ask them to fix it.

I love book stores. Sadly, they’re disappearing at an alarming rate. This B&N, though, is nice. It’s really big, with two stories. There is also a Starbucks café upstairs. It’s nice to go to browse around and see if anything suits your fancy. They also had some toys and games, a section with dvds, and a large kids section upstairs. Come check it out!

This store is my favorite for gifts. I like to walk in, buy my Starbucks coffee and go around the store. Great books and magazines. The kids section is awesome! When my kids were little we used to come here a lot and I was reading a book with them and they were playing on the train table.

I love the location of this place– its near the food court, shopping center, next to Starbucks like right above barnes&noble without even needed to go outside. This place is huge, has organized shacked books, new arrival in the front. Not too crowded, not too lousy, doesn’t stink either. You could read for hours without some staff bothering you, its a great bookstore.

I love this Barnes and Noble! I’ve been coming here for over 10 years now, and since then, a lot of the sections have been reorganized For instance, the fantasy and the comic/​manga section used to be upstairs, but have all been moved to the first floor near the very back of the store. *makes a joke about geeks lurking in the back*
The staff is so helpful in answering questions and will even lead you to the area of the store you’re looking for. For instance, I was looking for the Barnes and Noble Hans Christian Andersen special edition collection. For some reason, the B&N website said it was out of stock, but when I went into the store on the same day, I found it in the B&N classics collection section. Weird, but I guess it goes to show you can’t always trust online inventories. But it also isn’t too difficult for me to find what I want. Everything is really well-​organized, as it seems to be with all B&N branches.
I do love how spacious this Barnes and Noble branch is. I can spend hours getting lost in this place.
If you park in the garage, they will validate parking for you when you purchase something. Win-​win.

Two-​story Barnes & Noble BUT its grand size makes locating specific books difficult. The design isn’t intuitive and can be frustrating. They tend to have many books out of stock. Call first about your book before you come here because parking isn’t free!
The other downside is that the Starbucks is extremely tiny and offers limited seating. It’s better to get your order to go and try to find a seat outside. That, or take a walk along Bay Street.

This isn’t about the bookstore or the staff, but the Starbucks Café on the second floor.
I’ve been a few times, the workers a slow even when it’s not busy. Worse yet, the coffee tastes burnt or stale or old. If you’re looking coffee on Bay Street, go to café duetto.

This review’s solely for the Starbucks. It’s more like Starsucks. Well, at least this particular location. Worst coffee I’ve ever had at one.
The display was well stocked and had a variety of pastries and sweets that looked fresh and tasty, so I’ll give them props for that. There’s also a walk-​up window outside along with outdoor seating enclosed by a fireplace. Other than the fact that it’s part of Barnes & Noble, that’s the best it gets.
My Starbucks Gold status meant absolutely nothing here. I was denied the right to my basic bitch powers. Because it’s a «Barnes & Noble Starbucks», you can’t re-​load gift cards or use them there. Fair enough, but that’s not what the two stars are for.
The iced white chocolate mocha looked promising, so I went ahead and ordered that with whip. Well they forgot the whip and it tasted like cheap iced coffee. There was barely any ice and it was poorly mixed, all the white chocolate syrup settled to the bottom. On top of that, the barista that made my drink pulled out a lipstick after making my crap drink and started doin’ her lips!!! Who you trynna impress?! And they call ME basic.
I gave my drink to my parents. Sorry mom and dad. What a waste of $ 3.95… I didn’t even get a star for it. #BasicBitchProblems

Sebastian: This is a lovely Barnes and Noble – very spacious, with two floors and incredibly helpful staff. A lovely young lady with glasses who worked at the information desk was very gracious in assisting me. I had been searching for a book on the full collection of Hans Christian Andersen, and even though her database search was telling her that the store was out of stock, we both realized that the book was indeed in stores.
It is very comfortable to read here as well. I could spend hours here, and I do hope that bookstores such as these don’t go out of business, especially since bookstores are such wonderful places to meet fellow readers with similar tastes. I met my current beau here, and if it weren’t for this place, I don’t know how we would fare.
Jo: I love this Barnes and Noble! I’ve been coming here for over 10 years now. The sections have been reorganized (for instance, the fantasy and the comic/​manga section used to be upstairs, but have all been moved to the first floor near the very back of the store), but that’s not too much trouble, since the staff is so helpful in answering questions and will even lead you to the area of the store you’re looking for.
They also say that you meet people you date in places you like to be at, right? Well, my boyfriend and I met each other here. This place has very special memories for me. I remember the first book I bought from here, and all the special trips I’ve ever made just to bask in the visions and scents of new, hardbound books. I come here as often as I can, and I suspect Sebastian and I will be back together quite frequently!