It has been a number of years since I had been in a Barnes and Noble, the last time being down in…read moreOcala (since the one in Gainesville had closed down many years before). Hearing that one had opened in Gainesville again, I thought that to be interesting, but not something that I really needed to go into deliberately... no, I could wait until I was in the area and didn't really have much else planned.
Well, that time has finally come, and after a visit through Best Buy two doors down (where I didn't buy anything... I was just curious what technological gadgets exist these days) I walked into Barnes and Noble.
Entering, it seemed to have the same sorts of things I have grown accustomed to in these stores over the years. Newly published and best sellers at the front, then stacks going towards the back that hold various subject matter. Coffee shop to the right, which was NOT Starbucks and therefore did not make the entire store reek of burnt coffee.
I started walking through the store, when I realized that the layout is not all that great. Because of the height of the stacks and the way that they are labelled, it is pretty much impossible to know where different sections of material are located without walking through the entire store to find them. Sight lines are kind of ruined, so figuring out where romance novels or the kids section is will take a bit of exploring.
However, this is not the problem I had with the store. I mean, I get that... you want people to walk through the store to some extent so that they see more of the store and what you have to offer. No... My biggest problem with the store is that once I found the section I wanted, the books were in no discernible order! Every other store I have ever been in (that wasn't a second hand store where books kind of just get grouped into a section) has the books ordered alphabetically by author, but here? Nope. Science fiction and fantasy started out with the A's, quickly ramped through the alphabet, then started again. Same happened with the Y/A section and children's section. It just... doesn't make sense. Looking for a very popular author in the SciFi/Fantasy section, there were none in stock. None. An author with more than eighty titles, including recent (in the past year) releases, and nothing in stock.
There are other bookstores in town, ones that are closer for me, and I do not see myself going to this store anytime soon.