Posted: 10/8/18 at 9:39pm
Posted: 10/11/18 at 9:31am
I do most of my shopping on amazon, but there was a book I really wanted last weekend and was willing to be impatient and get it at B&N rather than wait the two days for prime shipping. I walked over to B&N and didn’t see the book where I thought it would be...I asked someone on the floor for some help and I got the swift response that they don’t carry that in-store and I should just order it online and can come pick it up at the store in a few days.
So what is the point of not purchasing books on amazon if a retailer like B&N in New York City is asking you to do the same thing- except you have to go to the store for pick up rather than amazon delivering right to your door! Out of curiosity, I asked what the B&N price would be and it was $4 more than on amazon.
Nasty customer service, no inventory and higher prices. B&N and many other bricks and mortar retailers will not be missed.
Posted: 10/11/18 at 10:09am
I haven't purchased anything other than greeting cards at a B&N in years. The Strand, though, is a different story. But even then, little can beat Amazon when it comes to finding obscure or used books for good prices.
I used to be resistant to buying clothing online for a while, since fits vary across brands and the return process is irksome. But now I've leaned into it, once I learn how a specific brand's clothing fits me.
Posted: 10/11/18 at 12:10pm
Posted: 10/16/18 at 8:36pm
I've lived in Manhattan for ten years and I've been inside a department store less than ten times. I've bought something from one once.
It won't really affect me much, but I'm sure I'll at least feel a little nostalgic.
This is my john hancock
http://www.joejenkinsphoto.com
Posted: 10/20/18 at 4:00pm
I'm 73 and now only need to buy food--always from the markets or supermarkets. The malls are sterile and clinical and repetitive and filled with people escaping the heat/cold outside or treating the place as a public childrens free play area.
I volunteer at an opportunity shop and what people thow away for others to buy, is just astounding but they are the retail shops of the future-recycling, and still we send container loads of used clothes for charity and landfill to less fortunate countries.
Department store service doesn't exist[except at airports where they are on commission and won't leave you alone]. Forget having a short polite conversation at the register should you find one, the staff are all like robots.
Staff in major stores in Asia go to work to sleep, even found one in a change room.
Don't need to shop online as don't need anything and have a library for books.
It's all the advertisers' fault telling 'us' what we need----we need LESS !
Posted: 10/22/18 at 10:54am
I worked at B&N for years before I went to law school and I saw how the shift was changing. Our store was noted for bending over backwards to help the customer find the most ridiculous things (the book cover is blue...now I don't know the title or author...it was on Oprah just now...) but we knew customer service was the most important thing to make sure they came back. As the years wore on they hired less and less people, expected double or triple the work from us with less coverage, and then cut hours to make sure the profit margins stayed up. Most likely if BN customer service is bad now it's because there are less people and the person you spoke to is being pressured to complete the work of what it used to take 2 or 3 people to complete within their shift. Believe it or not, I find law practice stressful but not as stressful as my last years at Barnes and Noble.
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