When my bank card got declined because of a bank snafu and they accused me of stealing and brought the cops.
Crap, B&N is in a really good location here and makes for a more pleasant mall experience and always was doing very brisk business, never dead. Now where am I gonna hang out when I go to the mall? Without B&N it’s possible the mall won’t even be worth going to.
When I got an iPad.
The nearest one is nearly an hour’s drive from me. However, the last time I was there it was poorly stocked and poorly laid out. I got to Borders instead. (Whose stock has also diminished.)
The whole state? I use The Fulton County Library system a couple times per week, but I had no idea there was a statewide system. How do I access it?
Bummer – and The Littlest Briston is going to be crushed. Our B&N is in the main shopping center in the middle of town, and we stop in there once a week or so. They have a big wooden train play area set up, and she loves spending time there while I page through some books.
Hmmm…I’m guess that us spending an hour or two each week in there while rarely buying anything didn’t help their situation much.
I got in the habit of going to Borders rather than B&N, because Borders carried CDs, and let you listen to more than a 30-second snippet of each song so you could make up your mind whether you liked the album. And they had great picks in the World Music section - I loved to browse there.
Now Borders doesn’t carry much of anything music-wise beyond Top 40 anymore, but then I hardly buy books these days anyway (except cookbooks, for which selection is about equal).
If I’m gonna spend the money for a new book at list price, I wanna support the indies. Which have largely died out in the San Fernando Valley, except for a great used store - Iliad books. (And whaddya know, they’ve recently expanded). If I can’t find it at Iliad, I order it from Half.com or track it down on bookfinder.com.
The one I go to is always packed.
B&N is the only place to buy books for me within a close distance, but I’d go there and be disappointed in their stock. I still go there if I want a book NOW but now that I have a free year of Amazon Prime, if I can wait a couple days I can get like any book ever and pay $5 less than B&N. If ours closes I do hope that Borders will snag the spot though.
The Google ad I see at the bottom of this thread is for Barnes & Noble. 
I don’t go there very often, but the one nearest me is usually pretty packed when I do.
But, yeah, Amazon and Half-Price Books are more likely to get my business.
I stopped going because I prefer the more intimate setting and knowledgeable, courteous service that my local downtown booksellers provide.
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cannot help it… hahahahhahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahhahaha 
Maybe I read it too quickly, but I didn’t see anything in that article about B&N shutting down. Sure, they’re selling themselves, and that implies that the business is not in great shape, but it doesn’t mean that they’re closing up, either.
When I moved to an area that they weren’t in. Borders is here, though.
- Amazon
- As others have mentioned, their lack of individual computers to search their in-store inventory. It’s a small point, but it meant that I’d always choose Borders if given the option.
- The library.
Geez, though…it’s still pretty sad! And can the state of publishing get any worse? 
I buy all my books from my local used book store (Recycle Books) , Amazon or occ eBay. On the rare occ I need to go to a B&M store, I go to Borders.
This. Borders is the one that is and has been next to death. I’m amazed it’s still open at all. Personnel cuts have been huge. Its stock price is $1.27, down from $4.00 a year ago. It’s in zombie mode. Books-a-Million went from about $15 to $6. It had been very healthy.
B&N is much to the seventy-third power better off. It will benefit from Border’s closing. It’s stock has only dropped from $20.00 to $16.00. It’s healthier and far more dominant than any of its direct competitors.
Far more likely than its getting sold off is having it taken private by Leonard Riggio, who’s been the power there for decades. He’ll keep it going for as long as he lives, the way Hefner won’t let Playboy go.
Remember that the predictions about the death of bookstores are being brought to you by the very same people who said that the iPad was going to kill the Kindle, which has had its best period ever. They slaver over electronics and know nothing about book buyers. Pay no attention to the man behind the electric curtain.
Because we have Bookmans. I’ll never buy new again. Or at least, as long as I live here.
Amazon was strike one. Far, far wider selection and the prices were better.
The Kindle was strike two. I don’t buy many physical books anymore. Nothing seems wrong with the Nook other than that it was months LTTP for me and I’m not going to drop my Kindle for it.
Borders has better discounts and Amazon has better prices. Plus the New York Public Library is huge.