Barnes & Noble Bookstore

The worst… I went to the Mall of America for Memorial Day Weekend with my husband and 7 month old son. I wanted to look around, but it was obvious I was being racially profiled by a low wage bookseller. I can say low wage, because back in my undergraduate days I worked for Borders Bookstore. I sent my husband to get an Iced Chai Latte for me due to the mall being terribly hot Sunday afternoon. Bozo the bookseller continued to follow me. My son got a little irritated from being in the stroller, so I walked over to he café and lifted him out. There was Bozo again to my right, following me with no just cause. I told my husband I wanted to leave the store because this person continued to act as if I would rob the entire store of books. No need to fear, you just lost a devoted customer. Nook? In the garbage as we speak. Kids Club card? Cut to little pieces. It’s too bad you train your employees to be racial profiling losers instead of striking up a conversation with visitors from out of town.
Oh yeah, I sent a complaint to B&N customer service the evening of 5÷25÷13. Do you think they have responded? Hell no. They only care about the $$, not the customers feelings. More ammunition to only purchase items directly from Amazon and to switch to the Kindle.
The sad part is that this is not a reflection of my whole experience at the Mall of America, just this tacky store.

I can kill a lot of time in a bookstore. Lately though, I find Barnes and Nobel visits to be stressful, and I get a «get your book and get the hell out» vibe from all of them, despite was is obviously efforts to increase dwell time (and thus, purchases, I would assume). They are are hard to do with kids. While I love that my kids want me to buy them books the constant flood of various merchandise (toys, games, books, stuffed animals…) results in a flood of «can I get this»? And I think that is what they want, put golly, I don’t care for it. This location is cool that it has a train table in the kids section, which the three-​year-​old loves.

Often the site of book signings, this location was the famed spot where someone hurled a tomato or two at Sarah Palin during her visit.
A nice respite from the crazy hubaloo of the Mall of America. With your Barnes & Noble rewards card, you can get 10% off all purchases, and this includes the Starbucks inside the store (Can be a good savings if you’re a member since there is a Starbucks across the rotunda).

If you are brave enough to hit the Mall of America just for a book, Barnes & Noble is the right stop. It is a mini sanctuary in the madness that lurks out the doors. If you happen to need a break from the tourists during your shopping spree getting a book will not only feed your soul but also your much needed break for peace, quiet and no fanny packs for 15 minutes.