3 ms·

I think they just need to be a better bookstore. Think of Powell's in Portland OR. It's my favorite thing to do in that city and I barely ever buy/read paper bo

by logn 13y ago

I think they just need to be a better bookstore. Think of Powell's in Portland OR. It's my favorite thing to do in that city and I barely ever buy/read paper books. They also have a building nearby the main one that sells only technical books. The reason I like shopping and buying books there is the sheer selection. Of course, their footprint is much larger than BN. But BN could raise funds to expand their stores slowly and see if it works. Powell's has several floors of books and are probably larger than many large libraries in big cities. Next to each new book they also stock used books of similar or the same titles. I just really enjoy the act of flipping through an entire book and then buying it on the spot. I don't think paging through the ToC in PDF form a la Amazon is that nice and I hate waiting for shipping. Plus, if on a technical book I'm going to spend $100 then I need to make sure for myself it's a decent reference. It's been painful to see BN push the Nook. And to see them try to be a coffee shop. And CD store. etc etc. For the size of their store, they have a remarkably small selection of books, and they're all high-priced... and they complain they can't sell many books. Sorry, when I walk in to the store and see 4 crappy books on CSS, 10 on HTML, 5 on Windows, and a smattering of others, I'm not that inspired. But in Powell's technical bookstore, when there's a whole aisle on Javascript, I get excited.

rdouble 13y ago
Barnes and Noble is an inconsistent experience. For example, at the Roseville, MN store, the technical book section is usually on par with, or sometimes even better than Powell's. However, almost everywhere else, even at other locations in MN, the stores mostly suck. There used to be a couple of great Barnes and Noble stores in Manhattan, but they have closed.
- Refefer 13y ago
  I imagine that's greatly influenced by the purchasing habits of the local customers: in Gettysburg? Beef up the Historical section.
SiVal 13y ago
I remember when the Stanford Bookstore was the largest bookstore in the US west of the Mississippi by number of titles. It had a tremendous technical section, and all Silicon Valley engineers shopped there and at a few smaller technical bookstores like Stacey's. Stacey's and most of the others are gone, and Stanford gradually went from being a giant bookstore with a gifts nook to a giant gift shop with a book nook.

by logn 13y ago

rdouble 13y ago

Barnes and Noble is an inconsistent experience. For example, at the Roseville, MN store, the technical book section is usually on par with, or sometimes even better than Powell's. However, almost everywhere else, even at other locations in MN, the stores mostly suck. There used to be a couple of great Barnes and Noble stores in Manhattan, but they have closed.

Refefer 13y ago
I imagine that's greatly influenced by the purchasing habits of the local customers: in Gettysburg? Beef up the Historical section.

SiVal 13y ago

I remember when the Stanford Bookstore was the largest bookstore in the US west of the Mississippi by number of titles. It had a tremendous technical section, and all Silicon Valley engineers shopped there and at a few smaller technical bookstores like Stacey's. Stacey's and most of the others are gone, and Stanford gradually went from being a giant bookstore with a gifts nook to a giant gift shop with a book nook.