Columbia University Bookstore

Good selection, but a bit overpriced. Bought a lovely Columbia University jacket and keychain that have been lovingly used since purchased.

So I expected the Columbia branded jersey, hat and such but not to the degree that’s going on here. If you can stamp it this Barnes & Nobles has — think Columbia condom…
Seriously, what caught my attention was how impressive this outsourced bookstore is for the school. There’s no other Barnes & Noble in all of NYC that’s like this. Clearly catering to the student and alumni population in every need imaginable, not just books. Zip drives, folios, professor authored books, clothing, book bags, and even a home wares section for campus living needs.
It’s truly impressive and the only reason there is a three star rating here on average that I can make sense of is that in general a major chain store like this is ill received. I can normally agree and concur whole heatedly that franchise solutions are to be avoided and I’d rather see a different solution but this is well executed. Besides, nearby are the other sorts of cool bookstores one likely seeks, even options with student books and professor relationships that sell their coursework books.

Eh. it’s ok. Going here during the first week of school reminds me of feeding time on the savannah. Also, they run out of used books/​clickers SUPERRRRR quickly and the staff isn’t terribly knowledgeable. I went there and bought a clicker, I asked the girl who cashed me out if clickers had to be returned by the same date that textbook returns had to be done and she said «No it’s yours you keep it» and I was like no I mean what if I don’t want to keep it and want to bring it back «and she said, you have a week to do that» and I was like oh. ok… that’s not very much time. Then after I walked away, I heard the cashier next to her say «A week? They have way more than a week. Clickers have to be returned by the textbook return deadline so like 2 weeks.» I was kind of baffled that the other cashier didn’t say something WHILE I WAS STILL STANDING THERE! In any case I brought the clicker back 2 days later and the return was effortless.

More of a college bookstore than a B&N, but I’ve purchased many emergency umbrellas here. You can get your Columbia gear and some class books here, too. It’s usually not too wildly crowded, either.

I Lament the Decline of Independent College Bookstores
It’s got most of the stuff you need to get through college. The problem is that they’re trying to hawk you all kinds of other stuff. Best-​sellers, New York memorbilia, cute little useless thingamagigs, and so forth. Old university bookstores were bastions of intellectualism, with rare titles and dusty shelves catering to the very highest academic interests of the students frequenting them. I think Princeton is still like this (I think). But Columbia, like so many others, has sold out to the corporate giant Barnes and Noble. Pff.
Still, it’s clean, and right on campus. It’s expensive but what the hell, everything is expensive in Morningside Heights, and what are you going to do, go to Chinatown to buy a three-​ring binder? The staff sorta kinda know what they’re doing, but I don’t blame them for not trying much, because I worked at a Barnes and Noble once and they paid me just above minimum wage.
There are some other cool little bookstores in the area whose name I can’t remember because I’m kinda tired right now, but anyway you can probably scout them out yourself. Real, old fashioned bookstores, where the staff can give you good advice. If you need that kind of craving fulfilled, you can get it a few bloks away.
There’s no place better for Columbia gear, if you’re into that. I’m thinking of going there to buy a pair of shorts tomorrow. I’ll probably end up paying $ 25 when I could walk over to a five and dime on 125^th St. and pay $ 5. But the Columbia logo does have a certain amount of cache — this we cannot deny. Not as much as other schools, though, because the sports teams stink. Nonetheless, Columbia clothing did have its moment in the sun when worn by Dr. Fleischmann in Northern Exposure. However, I doubt many undergrads remember that show nowadays.

Top 3 Reasons why I will never purchase another textbook here again:
1) I came in a Saturday to buy a textbook that they had in stock. They were doing inventory; they told me to come back on Monday. By Monday, it works be too late… I buy books as I need them, not when it’s convenient for the store to sell them to me.
2) Went back to purchase the book, which I had just checked online that they had available, and had new and used copies. Stood at the unattended register for a while before someone came to help. I asked for the book, and the guy retrieved me a new copy. I asked for a used copy. He said they didn’t have any. Either they did have used copies and he just didn’t feel like going back to get it, or their freshly-​inventoried system is wrong. Fail, either way.
3)
is cheaper and service is way better.

Your typical college booktore + NYC = laughable prices. But, hey, it’s worth putting a smile on my brother’s face to get him a bunch of official Columbia gear before his first year here. The employees are usually students, so they’re not exactly high-​end retail associates, but the store is set up so that there’s very little confusion as to where everything is. You stroll downstairs from Broadway, and end up in a sea of sweatshirts and books. Find what you need. Check out. QED.

Like others I ordered online to pick up in store however I never got through to anyone; no one picks up despite all permutations of attempting to reach someone. Frustrated, I went to the store where customer service was apathetic at best. I found my item and cancelled the online-​order without too much hassle. I would have happily done this originally if they simply don’t suggest the possibility of speaking to someone in store. Not being able to reach anyone over 3 days is deplorable. This is also the most unloved poorly designed b&n ive ever visited.

The place was looking pretty dirty when my friends and I went, but I guess there was some renovation going on. They have a wide selection of Columbia gear, but a lot of their shelves weren’t fully stocked.
Something I did love was their variety of planners … yes planners. What can I say? I love them. =P
The service was OK, the employees weren’t very helpful and everything here is priced on the high end. Yep, …

i was happy to find the Moleskin notebook for RECIPES. the entire moleskin notebook has cute sections like for each part of the dinner, and then time limit, wine pairing section, how long did it take to prepare, and how many guests will it feed.

Picture: graduation rush, huge lines, frustrated students, lax employees, under– or poorly delegated staff. Outcome: lost business. B&N needs to take the reigns more, as unpatrolled this place is a bit of a mess.

I small version of a Barnes & Nobles under the Student Center at Columbia. Crammed underneath and with a recent renovation, I can’t say this is a bad place. it’s an option for mainstream books and media, but it has a limited selection, and mostly caters to university students (and you can get a bunch of Columbia-​branded gear like t-​shirts, etc. here) and visitors to campus.
One good thing — a window for coursebook buy backs. Useful.

Plus: It’s a bookstore. They have all the stuff a bookstore should have.
Minus: not especially helpful finding textbooks. overpriced columbia crap. super loud staff can be grating, especially when they are loudly bs-​ing when you’re stuck trying to figure out what (if any) logic there is to the organization of textbooks.

The Barnes and Noble part of it is ok, but the Columbia Bookstore is shameless. At any given time their apparel section is so ill-​stocked that you’d think the entire Columbia Community wears a XL. That’s XL for months and months to come. What management…

I love this place! They have a good selection of popular books and will order anything you request. They also carry Spanish-​language books for the readers En SAP. You can get your Columbia para here… and some cute little trinkets, they also have really nice giftbags, cute mugs, Burt’s Bee’s products, Jelly Bellies and Ice Cream. And the manager is the GREATEST LADY IN THE WORLD!
The security guard is also very knowledgeable about politics, he doesn’t speak much English but the man knows what he’s talking about.

I bought a sweatshirt and t-​shirts here. I don’t remember seeing DVDs or music. Magazines are only in front of the register. They don’t sell any games/​toys. They have cookbooks so I had to decide if my roommate would actually use it if I gave it to her as a birthday gift.

Columbia University’s bookstore is a Barnes and Noble College shop.
They take the Barnes and Noble membership card for the usual discounts and they have a decent selection of books for being a small shop.
There is no café in this shop, but you can get Columbia clothing, text books and stationary needs filled.