Book Stores (Musings mostly OT)

We used to have three chain book stores here in Fayetteville:  Barnes and 
Noble (of the infamous Charbucks coffee infamy), Books A Million (Joe
Muggs 
coffee store which is much better than Charbucks), and Waldens.  Waldens
had 
a choice spot in our largest shopping mall, but was forced out so that the

mall could rent their spot to another store for a higher price (rent 
control, you know).

Other than the fact that NONE of them have the civilization to have a
store 
cat, each of the stores is very different from the other.  Barnes and
Noble 
is very organized.  I can go in there and find whatever I want without out

having to send out a search party or ask at the customer service desk. 
They 
also have a CD and DVD section that is awesome with harder to find items. 
I 
let my card lapse.

Books a Million is about as disorganized as a store can be and still have 
sections.  They have a much larger and more diverse magazine section than
B 
& N, but they don't have DVDs or CDs other than a small rack near the
check 
out counters with things like Celtic Rain, Dulcimer Hits, and so forth.  I

own all the Celtic music they sell already.  However, they do have Joe
Muggs 
coffee shop in a corner of their store and Joe Muggs has pretty good drink

selections and is the only place I could find that had real Earl Grey tea.

This is im****tant to me for some reason.  My BAM card is up to date.

Why do I use BAM rather than B & N?  It isn't the coffee.  I don't drink
it 
and I rarely buy tea or soda.  Even more rare is the indulgence in one of 
Joe Muggs incredible pastries.  The prices are pretty much the same at
both 
stores.  I used to have cards for all three stores, but dropped Walden's 
when they went out of business (I still had my Borders card, Waldens is a 
subsidiary of Borders) for when we went up to Chapel Hill, but it was
taken 
with my purse.  I let my B & N card go when it lapsed.

It comes down to people and customer service.  The people at BAM don't
mind 
traipsing all over the store to help me find what I want.  I feel as
though 
the people at B & N don't want to leave the cocoon of their desks and
resent 
me for asking stupid questions.  The attitudes at the two different places

are opposite and telling.

I once told someone that my perfect book store would have the selection of

BAM, organization of B & N, and the prices of Waldens.  And I would have
at 
least one store cat.  I still do most of my shopping at the used book
places 
and NONE of them  have a store cat.  How uncivilized.

Pam S. wondering what book stores you visit and why