Barnes & Noble

An excellent bookstore. Huge selection of books and always friendly staff. You can sit right on the floor to read or chat with other like-minded book lovers. There was a recent renovation, and I didn’t see the Starbucks inside — it might no longer be there.nnA wonderful place to meet passionate people, make friends, or maybe someone even closer ;)nnHighly recommended!

There has been renovations done to the newer Barnes & Noble. Starbucks is no longer connected to the book store. The new renovations have eliminated the second downstairs floor; the top floor is now sections of all of the various selections of genres and spaced out beautifully with what is available now. I do miss the old store and all of the space it had. It was nice to just walk in, stroll, buy books, sit and read; plus I also miss having space to yourself. There is still plenty of space to browse and enjoy the great search for that perfect book to read or share with friends. Children can have fun and choose a favorite author, storybook, characters, and search for something new to explore and enjoy. It’s a lovely place to relax and stroll through. So many wonderful collections of books to choose from. You are mesmerized by the classics to newly discovered gems. It is almost impossible to not find something you want or dream of collecting. You can buy books, music, puzzles, games, anime, manga, movie themed items, calendars, pouches and themed note books. There’s plenty of parking available and accessible, it’s a kid and parent friendly establishment.

I barely ever review a place, I’m not critical of most things in life— but I feel as if I’ve just watched you put down a family pet in front of me. Whoever at corporate okayed the changes needs to be fired or at the very least slandered for the rest of their life.nnLet’s start with the first major change— no longer are their two stories that separate the children’s section from the more adult sections. It’s all clumped together in a Maze I walked around in for about 20 minutes trying to figure out where ANYTHING is located. And the children’s section is laughable, and ironically only a few turns away from the romance section that children should be no where near.nnThen there’s the item selection, dear GOD there used to be tons of items, all neatly aligned in rows or sections of the store that were EASILY identifiable. Oh, fantasy and fantasy related items? Right over there! Now I find the fantasy section tucked away in a lone corner surrounded by cookbooks and whatever else I walked past.nnAll in all, it’s a travesty what has occurred here. The staff are nice and polite though, so you get a star for that. I know corporate won’t care, but if you want to go to a Barnes and Noble, go anywhere else. Because the Barnes and Noble Marine Pacifica has been buried 6ft under, after ironically losing its iconic bottom floor.

The remodel is terrible, the store is now a crime on the senses, the shelves are an unfriendly mess filled floor to ceiling with too many items leaving hardly any room to walk around. This use to be a pretty multi-level store and even tho the aesthetic was dated it was a reliable place to go browse. Presently the store is designed so poorly I suspect B&N wants customers to ship online and not in person, and now it feels like this is no longer a relevant place to buy books. Half of the new store felt like a toy store (like the dark back half of a KB toy store in the 90's), the walk-up to the register feels like a Ross or TJ Maxx with cheap (expensive) candy and handy (useless) knick-knacks. I came for a specific book and a cute lap desk to write on but I left with nothing but a headache. If all remodels are as bad as this one the larger brand is doomed, I'm sure it took a lot of nook sales to pay for this disaster plus the months it was closed. I felt nostalgic for a place I had been to just last year, because the writing is on the wall: this place is dismal and will get shut down and I'll have to drive to Torrance or LA for books, or just order online. RIP

The new one has lost its charm. The ceilings are too low and the lights are too bright. It’s not spread out enough to get lost and enjoy some peace and quiet. Now it’s bright, loud, and too close for my comfort. Not for me. There was something special about it and now it’s lost. Not sure why there was an update. I had too leave I felt dizzy and sick. Will now has to find a new place. So sad.