Barnes & Noble

One of my favourite stores is Barnes & Noble. Today it is the largest book retailer chain here in the US, since the closing of Borders in 2011.
Borders was and international bookseller based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Unfortunately, they applied for bankruptcy protection, and because they were not able to find an acceptable buyer they closed in September 2011. Their competitor Barnes & Noble acquired Borders' trademarks and also customer list, so when you log onto Borders' former website today you are redirected to Barnes & Noble's site.

What is making me nervous now is the information that I found last year. Barnes & Noble Inc. plans to close 30% of its stores, which is about 20 stores a year, over the next decade! The list of the stores that would be closed wasn't provided. The company has 689 retail stores and 674 college stores.
Do I have to worry now about my local Barnes & Noble?! It is so sad. Don't people read books anymore? OK, I admit I am the owner of the Amazon Kindle e-book reader as well, but I somehow still prefer books. I love books!

I sometimes visit the store in Naperville, but prefer to go to the one in Bolingbrook at The Promenade. I will write about The Promenade later.

Barnes & Noble in Bolingbrook

Barnes & Noble in Naperville

 

I visit often. They also have a Barnes & Noble Café where they offer the Starbucks beverages and a selection of the pastries and cakes. To be honest, there are no other real coffee shops, how you find them in Europe, in the suburbs. Unless you came across a Starbucks or a Caribou Coffee, you would be looking for another one for a long time.

This option is actually a perfect combination. You can have a cup of tea or coffee or whatever else

you fancy while you read a book or a magazine, and you can stay as long as you want. It is how my husband and I spend our time on a rainy day or other days quite often. And when he joins me, we almost always have a chocolate cupcake - we share it as I can't eat the whole thing. It is quite sweet, so after a few mouthfuls it doesn't taste so good anymore, plus it has 440 calories!! Otherwise I really enjoy it :-)

I like my Barnes & Noble, please don't close it!