How might one describe the sentiment of this review?
I've been wanting to buy two books - Craft Cocktails and Ad Hoc at Home for a while now... I know I can get them on Amazon, but for some reason I've resisted hitting the "Buy Now" button. On a whim (and while in the neighborhood at REI), I swung into Barnes & Noble. Wow - they've redone quite a bit of the store - there's now a huge area dedicated to the Nook, and if I didn't know better, I'd swear they had expanded the store by several tens of thousands of square feet - it's open, airy, and huge. After wandering for a few minutes, I found the cooking area. Fail number one: organizing books by author's name. I understand certain titles lend themselves more favorably to knowing the author... so, I reached for my phone, looked at Amazon's website, found the author's names, and started scouring for the books. Craft Cocktails - one copy available. Price? No where to be found. So, I wandered around until I found an employee, with whom I inquired about the price. He showed me the UPC code on the back and showed me how to decipher the code to extrapolate the price, which was - wait for it - full MSRP - $50.00. I saw the exact same book, no more than a few minutes earlier, online for $31.06 with free shipping and no tax. No thanks, B&N. I repeated the same song and dance for Ad Hoc at Home - once again, Barnes and Noble didn't have a price tag posted, but I was able to find the retail price of... $50.00 clearly marked on the back dust jacket. Wow. Amazon? $28.50 new, $17 used ("in excellent condition"). I appreciate that this is a brick and mortar store, complete with couches, chairs, coffee shops, and dozens of employees wandering around. But... really? I can't bring myself to spend nearly twice the going rate for books that are now 5+ years old. I said it in my tip, and I'll say it again - it's no wonder bookstores are failing. This business model is terrible. Oh, and also... WTF is up with the parking lot in this area? You could lose a wheel, your entire car, or small herds of livestock in some of those potholes. Fix the damn lot! Looks like I'll be renewing my Prime membership once again and buying both of these books for less than the cost of one new book from B&N....Pick from: 1. negative 2. positive I think the answer is
1.