But (I think) a lot also had to do with the whole book-buying experience. Remember Brentano’s? The dowagers still get misty-eyed remembering the day it went belly-up. But it was a friggin’ book museum! You went into Brentano’s like you were going to the opera!
B&N and the chains revolutionized the concept of book buying – they made it an everyman experience. They made books friendly and fun and accessible.
Wearing jeans? No problem. Got the kids? No problem. You’re hungry? No problem? Not into books, but like magazines? No problem. Want a trashy beach-read AND a classic? No problem.
Like I said, they saved a dying industry.
Side note to Eve: Did you see my reply to your post in the “non-celebrities w/ sex appeal” thread? (I used the Madam in Eden line there first.)
Stuy, I happen to BE one of those dowagers who gets misty-eyed when I pass by the late Brentano’s (you remember when it was Scribner’s?). Gosh, what a wonderful store that was! I can’t imagine anyone finding it off-putting. Breathtaking architecture and interior design? Lots of books? That wonderful balcony?
There are too damn many places where you can stroll in wearing jeans, spit on the floor, have your kids toss their Pokemon toys at strangers and slurp your Big Gulp. In fact, that’s all there IS anymore, since most of the graciousness and style have left the world . . . Pardon this dowager as I stoll by where Altmans, Bonwits, Doubleday and Scribners used to be, getting all misty-eyed . . .
Allegedly it wasn’t Domino’s Pizza per se that was donating money to Operation Rescue, but some sort of Domino’s Foundation which was set up by the company and funded by its profits.
Snapple pretends to be all earthy-crunchy and hip to drink (at least they used to) in their ads. I had no problem with this, although it’s pretty contrived. But last month I was forced to listen to the Rush Limbaugh show and discovered that Snapple is the main sponsor. They appear to practically underwrite the show. I stopped drinking Snapple which is difficult as I do like their pink lemonade, but the thought of giving money to RL is something I just can’t bear.
Well, around here the Border’s folk are actually pretty smart. Then again, we’re headquarters and right near campus. B & N employees here are numbingly stoopid.
As for boycotts: I would LIKE to boycott Nestle for their violations of the WHO guidelines on the distribution and marketing of infant formula. But I’m too lazy and hypocritical. I gripe, and refuse to buy Carnation Good Start, but otherwise I buy plenty of their stuff.
After reading about this latest supreme court case, I sure ain’t enthused about Junior ever becoming a boy scout. But they’re not really “a company.”
TWIX candy. They produced a radical change in their advertisements on television a short time back. They went from the (the candy is in 2 pieces) 1 for me and 1 for you bit, which was cool, to 2 for me and NONE for you. In today’s world, that, to me, seemed to be promoting selfishness and greed among kids. The ad ran for quite some time until they eventually replaced it.
Any MEGABOOK store that starts spreading like Walmart. I found out that they not only deliberately run local, small book stores out of business, but usually target them when they come into a town. Plus, they order so many books from publishers that they dictate what the publishers will print according to book sales. They also have a policy with publishers to ship back unsold books, which publishers have to eat. As a result of this, not only is the selection of books in their stores limited, but budding writers (I have a friend who is one) are finding it increasingly hard to get published if they don’t write what those stores want.
I like good science fiction and went into one of the chain mega book dealers and found that they had a very tiny science fiction section, something the book store they ran out of business used to have a lot of. The manager, when asked about it, offered to order books for me, stating that he company felt Science Fiction did not sell well enough to carry a large selection of it.
I went to one of the smaller, locally owned stores and bought a science fiction book from a large selection. The only problem was, I paid more for it.
Kentucky Fried Chicken.
I hate their new ‘rappin’ Colonel commercials. I also found out that the origonal company who bought KFC from the Colonel, agreed to follow his specific recipe in the preparation of the food. After changing the name to KFC, which essentially made it a different corporation, they introduced several different things, including the ‘extra crispy’ which does not follow the Colonels stringent recipe. (A lot of monosodium glutamate in that stuff.) Plus they went and changed the mashed potatoes they used, which again changed the Colonels recipes – and the taste fell – but the new potatoes are cheaper for them. And, the Colonel required his chicken be deep fried in pressure cookers. The last KFC I went into was using huge, open topped deep fryers, from what I could tell. Plus, their prices are far to high for what you get.
Do you work for B&N? In a local mall, B&N would only locate there if the mall officials bought out the leases of: Waldenbooks, Record Town, Sun Coast Video, AND Wherehouse Music. So, yes, I do mean “force”.
So screw B&N with a dry, sandpapery, iron-spiked bent dildo.
Not a business (or is it?) but I refuse to support the Fairfax County Library System after they caved into homophobic pressure about displaying the local gay newspaper. Believe it or not, if you wanted a copy you had to ask the librarian for it, who would retrieve it from behind the counter.(On the lighter side, the library dryly noted it was most popularly requested from watchdog types determined to make sure it did indeed live behind the counter.) Don’t get me started on their other censorship issues, though in fairness after time passed the newspaper is now back with all the others. Still. Arlington County Library, on the other hand, regularly has a table of Banned Books. I love them for it.
Mr. Blue Sky - I somehow find this hard to believe. Maybe it’s because in my local malls, such as the Everett Mall north of seattle, there are a Barnes And Noble, a Waldenbooks, AND a Suncoast video all in the same mall. Might be a Wherehouse but I’m not sure because I never buy CDs, the prices are artifically inflated. Never heard of Record Town before.
Benneton recently had an ad campaign involving selected people on death row, trying to humanize them and make people feel sorry for them. I saw the whole ad campaign, as it was included in an issue of Talk magazine.
I found it distasteful and insulting; not only did it insult every one of the victims of these criminals, but it insulted my intelligence to think some clothing company is going to try to change my thinking about the laws of the land.
These people committed crimes as adults, and as adults they had an understanding of right and wrong. Did these criminals humanize their victims? Did these criminals ever truly feel sorry for their crime–not sorry that they got caught and are being sent to their death? As far as I’m concerned, they broke the law. They knew what they were doing was wrong. They got what they deserved.
:: takes deep breath and lets it out slowly lest she rant more ::
BTW, I also will not support Perdue, also. Mafia front, ya’know…
I was going to leave this one alone, but what the heck…
I never buy anything in Borders (still fairly new in London). If I’m going to pay £15.00+ for a book, I certainly don’t want one that some moron has spilled coffee on / coughed all over / pawed with hands freshly unwashed straight out of the lavatory / smeared their ringworm over etc etc (You get the picture? Yes, we see).
(And their coffee is horrible, and they never clear the tables).
I also boycott Nestle’s when I remember.
BTW, whoever it was that disapproved of Greenpeace, could you give a bit more inf as to why? I’d have thought they were pretty OK - on the other hand, I see that someone back there has severe difficulties with aid to the Third World too, so what do I know?
Bookstores get my business regardless. I like books. Well, unless they throw me out for wearing jeans. I like jeans too.
B&N online will never get my business again due to awful service. I ordered books before Thanksgiving as Christmas Presents. I recieved half of them before Easter. After spending most of my Christmas and spring breaks on the phone with customer service. Who wanted me to pay for the shipping of the lost, but now found, order again, after I had paid it the first time because the special deal on shipping they gave me the first time ran out in mid December. Never, ever again.
On the bright side they also occassionally ship someone else’s stuff to me now. They keep asking me to pay for the Premium Mail service to send it back to them, but if they screw up they can eat it. And Mrs. Matilda Snerd from Ohio has good taste in music.
