Barnes & Noble

My daughter goes to an art studio for a lesson every Saturday morning. The studio is a half-hour drive away, and it wouldn't be wise to come back and forth and throw times on the road. So, I had to find a place to manage meaningful time. And luckily, I found that a Barnes & Noble store was near the studio.

I loved those mega bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Borders. Borders at Post and Powell was the right place where I spent my free time when I visited San Francisco for a business trip (the early 2000s).

It was the gateway to knowledge then; though Amazon and the internet were rising, skimming through all the books in one place was the most efficient way to learn the latest technology. But as you know, Borders went away in 2011, and many Barnes & Noble stores also disappeared. So, I was surprised when I found one in the Bay Area a few weeks ago - and I learned (from Apple Maps) that there are still more than five stores in the Bay Area.

I remember those mega bookstores were packed with a bunch of books. My memory depicted the place as narrow corridors and walls of tall bookshelves. But I could say the first impression of the new(?) Barnes & Noble (though the exterior was the same in my memory) in two words: spacious and bright. It was rather a book cafe than a bookstore—a family-friendly and comfortable place. The hand-written book curation notes reminded me of small local bookstores like Kepler's Bookstore. It seemed that I was not the only one who thought such. I found a great YouTube video from WSJ about the current Barnes & Nobel strategy.

I'm happy to find this place; my waiting time wouldn't be a mediocre time-killing but an enjoyment. I want to thank Barnes & Nobel for... surviving.