Book Stores (Musings mostly OT)

On Aug 5, 12:21�pm, "tanadashoes" wrote:
We used to have three chain book stores here in Fayetteville: �Barnes and
Noble (of the infamous Charbucks coffee infamy), Books A Million (Joe Muggs
coffee store which is much better than Charbucks), and Waldens. �Waldens had
a choice spot in our largest shopping mall, but was forced out so that the
mall could rent their spot to another store for a higher price (rent
control, you know).

Other than the fact that NONE of them have the civilization to have a store
cat, each of the stores is very different from the other. �Barnes and Noble
is very organized. �I can go in there and find whatever I want without out
having to send out a search party or ask at the customer service desk. �They
also have a CD and DVD section that is awesome with harder to find items. �I
let my card lapse.

Books a Million is about as disorganized as a store can be and still have
sections. �They have a much larger and more diverse magazine section than B
& N, but they don't have DVDs or CDs other than a small rack near the check
out counters with things like Celtic Rain, Dulcimer Hits, and so forth. �I
own all the Celtic music they sell already. �However, they do have Joe Muggs
coffee shop in a corner of their store and Joe Muggs has pretty good drink
selections and is the only place I could find that had real Earl Grey tea..
This is important to me for some reason. �My BAM card is up to date.

Why do I use BAM rather than B & N? �It isn't the coffee. �I don't drink it
and I rarely buy tea or soda. �Even more rare is the indulgence in one of
Joe Muggs incredible pastries. �The prices are pretty much the same at both
stores. �I used to have cards for all three stores, but dropped Walden's
when they went out of business (I still had my Borders card, Waldens is a
subsidiary of Borders) for when we went up to Chapel Hill, but it was taken
with my purse. �I let my B & N card go when it lapsed.

It comes down to people and customer service. �The people at BAM don't mind
traipsing all over the store to help me find what I want. �I feel as though
the people at B & N don't want to leave the cocoon of their desks and resent
me for asking stupid questions. �The attitudes at the two different places
are opposite and telling.

I once told someone that my perfect book store would have the selection of
BAM, organization of B & N, and the prices of Waldens. �And I would have at
least one store cat. �I still do most of my shopping at the used book places
and NONE of them �have a store cat. �How uncivilized.

Pam S. wondering what book stores you visit and why

The only book/music store that's close to us is Hastings. In the city,
they have Barnes & Noble,
Walden, one called Full Circle (I don't think that one is a chain
store)...anyway, Full Circle
used to have a cat.
I usually go to Barns & Noble if I'm in the city. Hastings always just
has a pot of free coffee on in the
sitting area. I can't tell the difference in that & STarbucks either.
Coffee is just coffee to me. Now, I
*can* tell the difference when a Coca Cola has been stored in the heat
too long, or is near the expiration
date on the package. Or has come from a plastic bottle or a can. I
know who has the best fountain
drinks, and whose are too syrupy or too watery.

Sherry

Charleen Welton wrote:

wrote in message

There's a store in my neighborhood that should have a store cat, but
doesn't. It's a big, old, comfy used bookstore, with stuffed chairs for
comfortable reading, wide-board wood floors that creak a bit when you
walk across them, and tons of fascinating books. It needs a kitty!!

Oh, I want to go there! I'll even bring my own cat!

Charleen, if you ever visit the Bay Area, I will make sure to take
you there. Actually, there are a number of such stores in the area,
that one just happens to be the closest to home. So we could do a
tour. This, of course, would be after you visit my apartment and get
your cat fix, so that you would be able to enjoy even catless bookstores.

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

"tanadashoes" wrote ...

Pam S. wondering what book stores you visit and why

Last year I visited a bookstore in the small town of Kilmore, 50km north of
Melbourne. They had a store cat - a big ginger tom. I spent 20 minutes
playing with him. It was delightful. I'm happy to drive all that way again
just to visit the cat. :-)

Flippy.

"Kreisleriana" wrote in message
...

I was born and raised in New Orleans but still never acquired the
taste for "Community Coffee and Chicory" - my mom made it so strong
you'd think the spoon would stand straight up in the cup.
Now-a-days I prefer "8 O'clock" whole-bean coffee ground right
before it's brewed. I think Starbucks is way over-priced and just
not "all that".


True. With expansion, the quality has been, well, diluted. But I
remember my first trip to Seattle in 1991 (same year I got Stinky,
BTW). In my life, coffee had been a necessity, but not one I
really thought about or enjoyed all that much. Then I went to
Seattle, a town that really gave some serious thought to its coffee
and baked goods! My eyes were opened-- literally and figuratively.
I nipped into a cafe to get a cup of takeout coffee, and when I
sipped that coffee-- I was amazed. It wasn't that I never had good
coffee before-- it was that in my life, good quality coffee was for
special occasions. Here, good coffee was for every day. That cafe
happened to be Starbuck's, before it went national. And Seattle
then was full of similar cafes. It's just that Starbucks was the
one that went national (and kidn of crazy, if you ask me). So
although I do think that we probably don't need a Starbucls on every
freakin' corner, I do give them credit for teaching me the
difference between merely decent and really good coffee, and for
getting me to want the coffee I drink to be good.

Like you, when I grew up getting a great cup of coffee was special.
Like the first cup from the first pot from a newly opened can. To get
that you pretty much had to be the first one up and make it yourself.

"I just made a fresh pot", or "hold up and I'll make a fresh pot" were
words you loved to hear, at home or at your favorite cafe,

Anything else either wasn't good, or wasn't hot. If you lived where
the water was off tasting (Florida) forget it ever. Places like that
couldn't make really good coffee and tended to stop even trying. Just
serving swill that would at least keep you awake.

Sorry Starbucks, but I had my own coffee grinder before you ever
opened. Learned to love Mexican Alta coffee beans before Japan
started buying it all. Even mixed hot chocolate and coffee at the
local place before the time of cafe Mocha.

I think what caught me the most by surprise when the fancy coffees hit
was the appeal to the mass market. Truck drivers and construction
workers went for it darn near as fast as the Yuppies.

I do like my weekly Starbucks on the way to look after my
granddaughter. Glad it seems to have finally dawned on them that if
they are going to charge that kind of price for coffee, it had darn
well be exactly as ordered, served quickly and with a little luck
cheerfully. Otherwise we can get very nearly the same thing at any
truck stop.

Jo

"Sherry" wrote in message
...
On Aug 5, 12:21?pm, "tanadashoes" wrote:
We used to have three chain book stores here in Fayetteville:
?Barnes and
Noble (of the infamous Charbucks coffee infamy), Books A Million
(Joe Muggs
coffee store which is much better than Charbucks), and Waldens.
?Waldens had
a choice spot in our largest shopping mall, but was forced out so
that the
mall could rent their spot to another store for a higher price (rent
control, you know).

Other than the fact that NONE of them have the civilization to have
a store
cat, each of the stores is very different from the other. ?Barnes
and Noble
is very organized. ?I can go in there and find whatever I want
without out
having to send out a search party or ask at the customer service
desk. ?They
also have a CD and DVD section that is awesome with harder to find
items. ?I
let my card lapse.

Books a Million is about as disorganized as a store can be and still
have
sections. ?They have a much larger and more diverse magazine section
than B
& N, but they don't have DVDs or CDs other than a small rack near
the check
out counters with things like Celtic Rain, Dulcimer Hits, and so
forth. ?I
own all the Celtic music they sell already. ?However, they do have
Joe Muggs
coffee shop in a corner of their store and Joe Muggs has pretty good
drink
selections and is the only place I could find that had real Earl
Grey tea.
This is important to me for some reason. ?My BAM card is up to date.

Why do I use BAM rather than B & N? ?It isn't the coffee. ?I don't
drink it
and I rarely buy tea or soda. ?Even more rare is the indulgence in
one of
Joe Muggs incredible pastries. ?The prices are pretty much the same
at both
stores. ?I used to have cards for all three stores, but dropped
Walden's
when they went out of business (I still had my Borders card, Waldens
is a
subsidiary of Borders) for when we went up to Chapel Hill, but it
was taken
with my purse. ?I let my B & N card go when it lapsed.

It comes down to people and customer service. ?The people at BAM
don't mind
traipsing all over the store to help me find what I want. ?I feel as
though
the people at B & N don't want to leave the cocoon of their desks
and resent
me for asking stupid questions. ?The attitudes at the two different
places
are opposite and telling.

I once told someone that my perfect book store would have the
selection of
BAM, organization of B & N, and the prices of Waldens. ?And I would
have at
least one store cat. ?I still do most of my shopping at the used
book places
and NONE of them ?have a store cat. ?How uncivilized.

Pam S. wondering what book stores you visit and why

The only book/music store that's close to us is Hastings. In the city,
they have Barnes & Noble,
Walden, one called Full Circle (I don't think that one is a chain
store)...anyway, Full Circle
used to have a cat.
I usually go to Barns & Noble if I'm in the city. Hastings always just
has a pot of free coffee on in the
sitting area. I can't tell the difference in that & STarbucks either.
Coffee is just coffee to me. Now, I
*can* tell the difference when a Coca Cola has been stored in the heat
too long, or is near the expiration
date on the package. Or has come from a plastic bottle or a can. I
know who has the best fountain
drinks, and whose are too syrupy or too watery.

Sherry

Is there anything that tastes better than an ice cold Coke out of a
glass bottle on a hot day? So cold that ice crystals form when you
take off the cap?

Jo

"jmcquown" wrote in message
. ..
CatNipped wrote:
"Gracecat" wrote in message
news:200808051337268930-gracecat@bellkittysouthnet...

Personally I like Starbucks. But Louisiana also still serves
chicory or dark roast coffee sooooo... I may not be the person to
talk to about the charred day old taste

Grace


I was born and raised in New Orleans but still never acquired the
taste for "Community Coffee and Chicory" - my mom made it so strong
you'd think the spoon would stand straight up in the cup. Now-a-days
I prefer "8 O'clock" whole-bean coffee ground right before it's
brewed. I think Starbucks is way over-priced and just not "all that".

Ear Skritches,

CatNipped

This reminds me of a story from the office. One of the managers was from
Louisiana and he'd bring in Community Coffee, brew a pot and put a post-it
note by the pot so people would know what it was. He certainly didn't
mind sharing but the company had a coffee service and he didn't want the
pots getting mixed up.

There was one guy who was a well-known office mooch. (Isn't there always
one?) If someone in a different department brought in doughnuts, he'd
find them. If a department on another floor was having a pot luck lunch
he'd sniff it out and find some reason to hang around and get free food.
So one day this manager brewed a pot of Community Coffee and labelled it.
The mooch came by, saw the sign, exclaimed "Free Coffee!" (Duh, it's free
every day ya' dipwad.) It was pointed out to him, um, that's G's coffee
and "Community" is the brand name. LOL He had the good grace to look
embarrassed.

ROTFLMAO! Cute!!


Community Coffee I can take or leave. Didn't the practice of adding
chickory become more widespread during the Civil War when coffee was in
short supply?

Jill

Yep, it did! I just can't stand it - it's way too bitter (but then, again,
I put *tons* of Splenda in my "mild roast" coffee - I don't think I really
like coffee, I just like having something hot in my tummy in the morning).

Chin Skritches,

CatNipped

My bookstore happens to be my library. Since I work there, I can order books
at the library rate and get them when the library gets its shipment - at 40%
off. There are a couple of bookstores - independents (the Borders, BN and
Walden's that were near me all closed) - near here and occasionally I'll
stop in and browse and buy a magazine or an old paperback. So my store cat
is the one I come home to - and I do sometimes buy out-of-print books
online, so she counts.
^..^
Kathy and Woodgie

On Aug 5, 7:20�pm, "Jofirey" wrote:
"Sherry" wrote in message

...
On Aug 5, 12:21?pm, "tanadashoes" wrote:





We used to have three chain book stores here in Fayetteville:
?Barnes and
Noble (of the infamous Charbucks coffee infamy), Books A Million
(Joe Muggs
coffee store which is much better than Charbucks), and Waldens.
?Waldens had
a choice spot in our largest shopping mall, but was forced out so
that the
mall could rent their spot to another store for a higher price (rent
control, you know).

Other than the fact that NONE of them have the civilization to have
a store
cat, each of the stores is very different from the other. ?Barnes
and Noble
is very organized. ?I can go in there and find whatever I want
without out
having to send out a search party or ask at the customer service
desk. ?They
also have a CD and DVD section that is awesome with harder to find
items. ?I
let my card lapse.

Books a Million is about as disorganized as a store can be and still
have
sections. ?They have a much larger and more diverse magazine section
than B
& N, but they don't have DVDs or CDs other than a small rack near
the check
out counters with things like Celtic Rain, Dulcimer Hits, and so
forth. ?I
own all the Celtic music they sell already. ?However, they do have
Joe Muggs
coffee shop in a corner of their store and Joe Muggs has pretty good
drink
selections and is the only place I could find that had real Earl
Grey tea.
This is important to me for some reason. ?My BAM card is up to date.

Why do I use BAM rather than B & N? ?It isn't the coffee. ?I don't
drink it
and I rarely buy tea or soda. ?Even more rare is the indulgence in
one of
Joe Muggs incredible pastries. ?The prices are pretty much the same
at both
stores. ?I used to have cards for all three stores, but dropped
Walden's
when they went out of business (I still had my Borders card, Waldens
is a
subsidiary of Borders) for when we went up to Chapel Hill, but it
was taken
with my purse. ?I let my B & N card go when it lapsed.

It comes down to people and customer service. ?The people at BAM
don't mind
traipsing all over the store to help me find what I want. ?I feel as
though
the people at B & N don't want to leave the cocoon of their desks
and resent
me for asking stupid questions. ?The attitudes at the two different
places
are opposite and telling.

I once told someone that my perfect book store would have the
selection of
BAM, organization of B & N, and the prices of Waldens. ?And I would
have at
least one store cat. ?I still do most of my shopping at the used
book places
and NONE of them ?have a store cat. ?How uncivilized.

Pam S. wondering what book stores you visit and why

The only book/music store that's close to us is Hastings. In the city,
they have Barnes & Noble,
Walden, one called Full Circle (I don't think that one is a chain
store)...anyway, Full Circle
used to have a cat.
I usually go to Barns & Noble if I'm in the city. Hastings always just
has a pot of free coffee on in the
sitting area. I can't tell the difference in that & STarbucks either.
Coffee is just coffee to me. Now, I
*can* tell the difference when a Coca Cola has been stored in the heat
too long, or is near the expiration
date on the package. Or has come from a plastic bottle or a can. I
know who has the best fountain
drinks, and whose are too syrupy or too watery.

Sherry

Is there anything that tastes better than an ice cold Coke out of a
glass bottle on a hot day? �So cold that ice crystals form when you
take off the cap?

Jo- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Oh absolutely!! And the glass bottle part is crucial. I swear the
plastic bottles just don't have
that battery-acid burn going down that really wakes you up in the
morning :-)

Sherry

Jofirey wrote:
"Sherry" wrote in message
...
On Aug 5, 12:21?pm, "tanadashoes" wrote:

I once told someone that my perfect book store would have the
selection of
BAM, organization of B & N, and the prices of Waldens. ?And I would
have at
least one store cat. ?I still do most of my shopping at the used
book places
and NONE of them ?have a store cat. ?How uncivilized.

Pam S. wondering what book stores you visit and why

The only book/music store that's close to us is Hastings. In the city,
they have Barnes & Noble,
Walden, one called Full Circle (I don't think that one is a chain
store)...anyway, Full Circle
used to have a cat.
I usually go to Barns & Noble if I'm in the city. Hastings always just
has a pot of free coffee on in the
sitting area. I can't tell the difference in that & STarbucks either.
Coffee is just coffee to me. Now, I
*can* tell the difference when a Coca Cola has been stored in the heat
too long, or is near the expiration
date on the package. Or has come from a plastic bottle or a can. I
know who has the best fountain
drinks, and whose are too syrupy or too watery.

Sherry

Is there anything that tastes better than an ice cold Coke out of a
glass bottle on a hot day? So cold that ice crystals form when you
take off the cap?

Jo

Yeah, an ice cold beer (preferably having been iced down in a cooler)! Of
course, you have to like beer first

Jill

"Jofirey" wrote in message
...

"Sherry" wrote in message
...
On Aug 5, 12:21?pm, "tanadashoes" wrote:
We used to have three chain book stores here in Fayetteville: ?Barnes and
Noble (of the infamous Charbucks coffee infamy), Books A Million (Joe
Muggs
coffee store which is much better than Charbucks), and Waldens. ?Waldens
had
a choice spot in our largest shopping mall, but was forced out so that
the
mall could rent their spot to another store for a higher price (rent
control, you know).

Other than the fact that NONE of them have the civilization to have a
store
cat, each of the stores is very different from the other. ?Barnes and
Noble
is very organized. ?I can go in there and find whatever I want without
out
having to send out a search party or ask at the customer service desk.
?They
also have a CD and DVD section that is awesome with harder to find items.
?I
let my card lapse.

Books a Million is about as disorganized as a store can be and still have
sections. ?They have a much larger and more diverse magazine section than
B
& N, but they don't have DVDs or CDs other than a small rack near the
check
out counters with things like Celtic Rain, Dulcimer Hits, and so forth.
?I
own all the Celtic music they sell already. ?However, they do have Joe
Muggs
coffee shop in a corner of their store and Joe Muggs has pretty good
drink
selections and is the only place I could find that had real Earl Grey
tea.
This is important to me for some reason. ?My BAM card is up to date.

Why do I use BAM rather than B & N? ?It isn't the coffee. ?I don't drink
it
and I rarely buy tea or soda. ?Even more rare is the indulgence in one of
Joe Muggs incredible pastries. ?The prices are pretty much the same at
both
stores. ?I used to have cards for all three stores, but dropped Walden's
when they went out of business (I still had my Borders card, Waldens is a
subsidiary of Borders) for when we went up to Chapel Hill, but it was
taken
with my purse. ?I let my B & N card go when it lapsed.

It comes down to people and customer service. ?The people at BAM don't
mind
traipsing all over the store to help me find what I want. ?I feel as
though
the people at B & N don't want to leave the cocoon of their desks and
resent
me for asking stupid questions. ?The attitudes at the two different
places
are opposite and telling.

I once told someone that my perfect book store would have the selection
of
BAM, organization of B & N, and the prices of Waldens. ?And I would have
at
least one store cat. ?I still do most of my shopping at the used book
places
and NONE of them ?have a store cat. ?How uncivilized.

Pam S. wondering what book stores you visit and why

The only book/music store that's close to us is Hastings. In the city,
they have Barnes & Noble,
Walden, one called Full Circle (I don't think that one is a chain
store)...anyway, Full Circle
used to have a cat.
I usually go to Barns & Noble if I'm in the city. Hastings always just
has a pot of free coffee on in the
sitting area. I can't tell the difference in that & STarbucks either.
Coffee is just coffee to me. Now, I
*can* tell the difference when a Coca Cola has been stored in the heat
too long, or is near the expiration
date on the package. Or has come from a plastic bottle or a can. I
know who has the best fountain
drinks, and whose are too syrupy or too watery.

Sherry

Is there anything that tastes better than an ice cold Coke out of a glass
bottle on a hot day? So cold that ice crystals form when you take off the
cap?

Jo

I remember the small bottles out of the machine with great nostalgia - I
don't think I've tasted any drink that delicious since. I noticed that they
came out with the small bottles again recently, but they cost a fortune and
they just don't taste the same.

Ear Twitches,

CatNipped