Stopped by Barnes & Noble today. What has happened to us?

[Laffy Kat]

I was looking for "The Chick and the Dead" which I have since learned won't be released until June. Anyway, this B&N has always had a decent medical and science section. Appears they've made some changes. The science and medical area now consists of just two bookcases of only the most popular titles. Meanwhile, the "Living A Christian Life" section encompasses six rows of shelving, bookcase upon bookcase. WTF?

[LeftInTX]

1. I was appalled at the amount of conservative politics books.

It seems like 3/4s of the books were conservatives. Lots of Hillary propaganda books.

[Laffy Kat]

4. Yes, well I won't be returning to that one anytime soon.

I'll just buy on line or damn the parking and go to the Boulder Bookstore to spend my money.

[beveeheart]

11. Love the Boulder Bookstore!

Going there tomorrow.

[secondwind]

24. B&N is practically out of business. It is most likely they bought the name

and it is independently owned.

My husband says he saw a commercial today here in FL that advertised publishing your book. "Call Christian blah-blah".

They are insidious.

[msongs]

2. that's odd. my xtian friends only need ONE book nt

[lunasun]

3. If you have faith do you need science or medicine?

[Laffy Kat]

5. Or curiosity apparently. nt

[FiveGoodMen]

10. Most definitely

Science provides that basic info that allows bridges to stay up, cars not to stall, communications (incl. 911 calls) to continue.

Medicine allows actual fixing up (surgery), healing (effective drugs), and disease control (info on diet and activity, plus other effective drugs) to occur.

The good feelings that may arise from faith are no substitute for any of the above.

[lunasun]

21. What about cures through prayer and faith healers? Letting Jesus take the wheel ?

Protected bridges

[FiveGoodMen]

25. Never been shown to work.

[lunasun]

26. But it has been shown not to work. Sick kids dying because parents let someone lay hands

on the child instead of seeing a doctor. People praying letting God's will drive and crashing
They thought faith was all they needed
but often the outcomes run similar to that of neglect.

[WinkyDink]

40. Do you think every "faith" is the same as every other? Do you think all adherents are the same?

Because I'll point you to current events, if so.

Meaning: Many of history's most brilliant scientists and doctors have been members of some "faith."

[dflprincess]

6. It might depend on what sells in your area

Last edited Tue May 30, 2017, 11:26 PM - Edit history (1)

I know the "Christian Life" section at the Mall of America seemed large to me - but not as big as you're describing. The New Age section is just as large if not larger. I'll have to check out the science and medical section next time I'm there just to satisfy my curiosity. And check both sections at other of their stores I frequent.

[NoWheyJose]

29. If they're smart, they'll stock what sells.

That's pretty elementary.

It's like the ice cream cones at McDonalds. The don't sell chocolate because chocolate doesn't sell enough to justify purchasing a machine dispensing more variety.

If it doesn't bring in the bucks, they shouldn't stock it.

You wanna see what really sells? Check out the Self Help section.

-NWJ

[niyad]

34. here in fundieville, the new age/metaphysical section has shrunk to two cases, and the xian

stuff, including fiction, has expanded to ten . and the metaphysical magazine selection has gone down considerably, while the xian and gunhumper crap has expanded.

I protest it regularly, just so they know that xians are not the only ones here.

[WinkyDink]

41. N/M.

[Still In Wisconsin]

7. Where do you live, if I may ask?

That's a whole lot of "Living A Christian Life" for one B&N.

[Laffy Kat]

14. I live in Lafayette, Colorado.

The B&N I went to today was in Westminster, CO. I usually go to the B&N in Boulder and it's not like that (at least not yet).

[Still In Wisconsin]

17. Yeah... the one in Madison WI is not like that either.

They're stocking what sells I guess...

[Laffy Kat]

18. And, you know, that wasn't even counting all the "Spirituality" rows. nt

[Still In Wisconsin]

22. Did you happen to see the three books on Judaism?

LOL!
(I'm a Jew)

[Laffy Kat]

28. LOL. nt

[politicat]

32. Hey, neighbor.

I was wondering which one you were at. That didn't sound like Boulder. (Every BN tailors their inventory to the local sales, so a few avid buyers can grow/kill a section disproportionately. Algorithms gone wild...)

For fiction and standard nonfiction, try 2nd & Charles at Flatiron. For specialty texts, BBS, the CU bookstore that has books ( the one on the hill, not in the student union) or trekking to Tattered. I've been generally happy with 2nd & Charles' selection, customer service and layout.

[Laffy Kat]

37. My son keeps trying to get me to go to 2nd & Charles.

The one time I did visit, I didn't like it. I'll give it another shot. Tattered Cover is clear in Denver, although I do visit the one at DIA when I fly; it's a tiny one.

[politicat]

38. Yeah, I hit Tattered only when I meet three conditions and a caveat

If I have to go south for something else anyway (Ikea, Sakura market), I have a list of books, and I can leave Boulder county after 9am and be back on the road no later than 3 pm, and given that it's not heavy construction season or ice-snow*. It's not *quite* as bad to get down there as, say, Aurora, but I hate throwing money at 470/NW.

Every year, I want to drive less and can source more materiel within walking distance, which I guess is the mark of graduating from a collection of suburbs to an actual metropolis. All we need now is a lumber yard that doesn't require risking life and limb.

*Which is what, 6 weeks a year now?

[Laffy Kat]

42. LOL. It is like running the gauntlet these days.

Can't remember the last time I ventured south, at least beyond downtown Denver. I've been to Ikea once, I think, and that was enough.

[The_Casual_Observer]

8. The one near me is mostly a toy store now

I guess they are really struggling to find a market.

[Laffy Kat]

19. It must be hard to keep a profitable bookstore.

The brick and mortar stores are far and few between. Many, many years ago I worked at a bookstore chain called Pickwick. They popped up all over the place. I think it was discounted over-stock from Dalton's. It was a fun job, though, and we got discounts on top of the already discounted merchandise. It was good for buying gifts.

[forgotmylogin]

30. I worked at Borders in Ft. Lauderdale in the late 90s

It was a huge wonderful place, but the reality that was starting is that Amazon was undercutting stores that had to maintain physical locations, and the switch to eBooks (which is a mostly a good thing for the environment) was starting to make bookstores unprofitable. My manager related how essentially our job was to be a comfortable place for people to read and not buy the books, because the cafe sales were where they made their money.

As far as the religion section being larger than the science section, that is pretty normal as most medical texts are huge gigantic $100+ tomes that people usually don't buy. There are lots of "spiritual" books that spill from religion, and a lot more books are published. Medical books usually don't change as often, and shelf space has to be allocated to display all the books available.

Not excusing that...rightwing books are a dime a dozen and we'd remainder them as fast as they were published and didn't sell.

[femmocrat]

33. Same here.

The toy section takes up the entire center of the store. Behind it there is a huge children's book section (with stuffed animals, etc.). They have frequent events for kids.

Books are peripheral, in side aisles leading to the magazines and the Starbucks. I only go there for gifts for my grandkids now and buy books on Amazon.

[exboyfil]

9. It might reflect the buying habits

of Christians. We continued to maintain a few independent Christian bookstores along with our B&N. All other bookstores have folded. Amazingly we also have two Comic book stores within about 1 1/2 miles of each other (one next to the campus and the other a short walk from the campus). I used to get a rush going to the mall bookstore. I never knew what I might find. Now with the internet I have so much more information about books along with access to them. My biggest problem is that I have so many unread books that I purchased at a bargain from book clubs that I can't justify another purchase. The amount of free stuff between my library and Amazon would keep be going for years as well.

[Tobin S.]

13. I have a similar problem regarding books.

I'm always running across books I want to read and I get backlogged, so to speak. If I want to re-read a book that really throws me behind. I've got one book that I just read that I'm reading again. I have two others here that I've bought but haven't read yet and I've got two in the mail making their ways to my doorstep. I'm going to have to take it easy and read what I've got before doing any more exploring.

I buy most of my books online and I do miss brick and mortar bookstores. We had a used book and music store here in my little burg that I absolutely adored that went out of business not too long ago. There really isn't an alternative to online shopping for books here unless I want to go to the Walmart and buy some of the propaganda that passes for books in their sparse selection.

[Laffy Kat]

15. I feel guilty sometimes for re-reading books.

Also for reading my guilty pleasures. Like today, since I didn't get the book I wanted, I left with Carl Hiaasen's "Razor Girl". I've been waiting for it to come out in paperback for a year. All Hiaasen's novels have the same plot but he cracks me up. I try to get them from the library but the wait list is so darn long. I'll read this one in one or two days and feel guilty. LOL. Oh, and I don't do electronic books.

[Tobin S.]

16. I'm behind the times on the e-books, too.

I read a lot on my breaks at work and I don't have a device for e-books. I just get the hard copies. I like them better for some reason anyway. I guess I'm old fashioned. I do try to buy used books as much as possible. I save a lot of money doing that and I've had good luck with it on Amazon.

[Dulcinea]

31. Same here.

I know a lot of people love their e-readers & e-books, but I just don't enjoy reading like that. I also buy used books whenever possible from Amazon or eBay, & get free books via my online book swap.

[Orrex]

12. One bookstore closed near here a while back

Maybe a B. Dalton? Anyway, by the end of its run, they'd relegated the science department to a single shelf in the sprawling Alternative section.

And, as you note, "Inspirational" titles clogged much of the store. A plague on literacy and good taste.

[Laffy Kat]

20. It's disturbing. nt

[First Speaker]

23. The Milford, CT, B&N has solid sections in both science and medicine...

...both about as large as the religion section. Fundamentalists are *relatively* fewer on the ground here in CT...

[Laffy Kat]

27. The Boulder B&N does too.

A college town and all. And this is a new development for the Westminster location. It looks as though they recently rearranged everything. The CD/music section of the store was also moved, reconfigured, and reduced. The Christian section was the only one enlarged as far as I can tell. I mean, it was striking.

[Codeine]

35. Jesus freaks still buy a lot of physical books.

Christian bookstores are a thriving niche market, and any bookseller that wants to make money in Flyover Country is going to stock a healthy pile of Invisible SkyDaddy bullshit. Bookstores are a difficult business at the best of times, and in the current market I don't begrudge B&N for focusing on local preferences.

Luckily the Jebus Brigade isn't as strong here in Southern California, so my area B&N doesn't have to make that choice.

[kwassa]

36. The big Christian bookstore in my area went out of business.

Barnes and Noble is doing just fine.

Maryland.

[WinkyDink]

39. First Rule of Business: Sell.