Barnes and Noble at Vanderbilt

Just received abysmal «service» from 2 male employees here. You would think asking for them to show you where a book is is not part of their job description. I was served an incredible dose of attitude from both of them and one of them didn’t even check the price of a book that was advertised under a different price on the website, which I showed him on my phone… or at least I tried to but he barely made eye contact with me as didn’t bother to look at it. «I know for a fact that the price won’t be what is advertised on the B&N site», he exclaimed. I brought the book to the register and all he had to do was scan it. Anyone in sales would know that even if you don’t think the customer is going to like the price, if they’re already at the register, they’re probably willing to pay more just because they already went through the trouble of getting to that point. I was shocked by how I was treated today.

I love Barnes and Noble! I love most bookstores to be honest! I stopped in this location to pick up some last minute gifts before Christmas (and to get a book or two for myself, of course)! The store was organized and clean. When we couldn’t find something, we asked an employee of the store who was very kind and helpful!

***Vanderbilt’s bookstore is nice and features quality Vanderbilt branded apparel and desk/​office items, but the store’s variety is slightly underwhelming compared to other big name university bookstores across the country***
Like the university bookstore at Penn, Vanderbilt’s bookstore is located in a Barnes & Noble. The Vanderbilt Barnes & Noble though is not as impressive as what you will find at Penn. Penn features a much greater variety of Penn apparel and branded merchandise as well as a nice food area where you can pick up snacks, drinks or even light meals for a quick break between classes. There is a coffee shop inside the Vanderbilt Barnes & Noble, but the one at Penn was more unique and felt more local.
This bookstore is still nice though. They have a decent variety of apparel and a lot of the shirts are good though not high quality. While the apparel is decent, you just will not find the variety or uniqueness of apparel here that you would find at a bigger university bookstore like the ones at Stanford, USC or Wisconsin.
Prices are okay and not too expensive and service was pleasant.
Overall, this is a decent university bookstore but just slightly lacking in the variety of branded merchandise compared to other big name or Division 1 university bookstores across the country.
Parking in this area is very hard to find. Your best option is metered street parking, but it seems like most of the meters around here do not take credit cards.

Good service, awesome clothing selection for Vandy students, alumni, and fans, and a good book selection. It’s a university Barnes and nobles so keep in mind that the selection isn’t meant to keep you entertained for hours. It’s geared toward students.

It’s still not quite NOT the Vandy bookstore, but it’s very much also a Barnes and Noble. The genre of literature and type of book bindings are very B&N until you get to the textbook area, but the selection of the former is a bit squeezed due to the square footage devoted to every imaginable kind of Vanderbilt shwag.
Prices of non-​textbook books are average for B&N, Vandy shwag is 30% higher than you’d expect except for the $ 14 generic Vanderbilt-​branded t-​shirts. Service is very friendly and attentive.

The coffee shop pastries here are WAY better than Starbuck’s patisserie. It always smells like cookies (danger!) and they sometimes have samples of drinks. Also, there is an excellent selection of healthy and unhealthy snacks. I also like the ever shifting seating area. The seats are in rows one day, at angles another, there were ergonomic ball chairs at one time, and then there are the days when we are reminded that the store is for students, who are picking up their textbooks so seating is limited or squished together to make room.
There are outlets a-​plenty, just lift the metal squares on the floor and bend way down to plug in your cords.

Head upstairs for shirts!
Very friendly staff that went upstairs to find me a shirt I was looking for. Prices are what you’d expect from the University shop but they had a decent selection of kids stuff and looooooots for grown ups. Good size sale section as well. Plus, Starbucks and books.

This is a great Barnes and Noble. A great spot to go if you are a college student or not. They offer Starbucks coffee available for purchase. They have a smaller selection from other Barnes and Noble stores that I’ve been too. But this is a great place to come unwind, have a coffee, and dive into your favorite book. This is accessible from West End Ave and the Vanderbilt Campus.

Wow… this place has really sort of hit the skids since it was taken over as the Vanderbilt Bookstore. What use to be better elements of Staff Picks and a far better selection of magazines and kids books is now a second floor totally overrun with undergrad swag. And overpriced swag it is. Add to that the horrific parking that is 2525 West End and you will see quickly why Barnes and Noble is going out of business all over the place.

So I thought having a computer terminal to look up locations of books on the shelves or simple availability in the store was standard in all large bookstore locations. Here it is not the case. It is pretty annoying.
Still they have a pretty good store. Good selection and the guy at the help desk was nice and helpful.
Good place to go if you want to wander some shelves, they really need to get some terminals so you can easily figure out whats in the store or get their own app so you can look up whats on the selves and where it’s at on your own.

They have good coffee, a plethora of sweat shirts and other Vandy gear, and the tech guy was both cute and knew his Nooks inside and out. For such a large bookstore, they seem to have not enough actual books. Perhaps that is the way of the future: Nookstores replacing bookstores. Now if they could work on getting decent public transportation around here, we wouldn’t feel the need to complain about the parking lot that is always full.

HOLY SMALLEST BARNES & NOBLE!!!
Unless you have your own reading material forget about it. Their interior designing book selection was a joke!!! Magazine area is 1 rack, (seriously??)
The entire upper floor is Vanderbilt clothing! So if are looking for school team spirit clothing, this is the place to be.

Sadly, I have to give a poor review to a book store. I love all bookstores, even other B&N’s, but this one just doesn’t do it for me!
The staff is friendly enough, and it’s always very clean and well-​lit. Unfortunately, it’s lacking pretty much everything I look for in a bookstore.
The parking is horrendous, they NEVER have the book I’m looking for, and the layout of the place, albiet open, is confusing and there are no signs to display where each section of the bookstore is. The escalator is large and completely blocking the view of anything I need or would like to see. Overall, it’s not where I’m going to buy books, if for no other reason than they don’t carry them.
This B&N makes me understand Amazon’s business model so much more…

I came for the WiFi, and I stayed… well, for the WiFi because I had just moved to the neighborhood and was awaiting my installation day for my current ISP. However, having spent multiple hours here several days a week for a month straight, I can say I never had a problem with the staff or any other patrons.
The café area has ample seating. Even on a Sunday afternoon, I was able to find a seat in the crowd of hungover Vandy students.
The café serves Starbucks coffee, but they have a wider selection of food and snacks. To be honest, I had one of the best iced chai teas I’ve had in a LONG time here. I also highly recommend the spinach & feta pretzel or the Reese’s cookie (warmed!)

Large selections of Vanderbilt attires, school supplies, not so much on books. Might want to stick to Amazon… Lots of staff around the bookstore for assistance, at least on the second floor. There is a gigantic selection of Vanderbilt and Commadore paraphernalia. A little on the pricey end, but decent. Plus, discounts are given to all Vanderbilt employees and students. That’s always a plus.
One thing I will point out is that parking at this location is horrible. You be lucky to find a stall near by, but there is a garage in the back of the bldg.

Let’s be honest, I’m a fan of books. All different kinds of books. I buy books, even when I have ten other books lined up as my next read. Maybe one day I’ll get to reading all of them.
I usually try an steer clear of this Barnes & Noble location, since parking is total crap and it’s usually filled to the brim with Vandy kids. If you do manage to get a parking spot, don’t expect any good finds inside. The staff members are never around, and when you do corner one, they are usually clueless.
Needless to say, I try and avoid this book store and stick to ordering my books from Amazon.

Clean, large and caters to the students. Large café area with lots of tables. Free wifi. Soft music. I like it. Not a huge book selection but I don’t think that’s the market they were going for here since it does cater to the students.

I popped into Barnes & Nobles to buy some new journals during my trip to Nashville. I’m a paper nerd and they carry my favorite brand of moleskin journals. I love buying new journals because they represent a fresh new start. I have journals all over my house and use them to write song notes. It’s amazing how quickly they fill up and I enjoy flipping through them weeks, months and years later.
B&N is a two level store with an escalator but I didn’t go upstairs. On the bottom floor there’s a Starbuck’s café area with seating, popular book section and a sizable of their Nook and accessories area. In comparison to the service I’ve received at other places around town the guy who helped me at the counter was a ²⁄₅.
Unilocal 365 Challenge: #201/​365 (The Notebook)

I’m thrilled that the Vanderbilt bookstore and Barnes and Noble paired up to use the old Borders location.
The first floor is basically a Starbucks with lots of seating (packed with people on their laptops), an Amazon technology area, and then some books. The second floor has a children’s area, more books, Vanderbilt stuff, and then textbooks for Vanderbilt students.
Its nice, but I feel like the location is too small and they could use some more books. I do think that they used the space better than the Borders did though. Also, for those of you driving here, you might have trouble finding parking. The 2525 West End building has become very crowded, but apparently there’s a garage under the chinese restaurant.
As Gregory R. pointed out, this store should not be a Barnes and Noble store if they do not participate in Barnes and Noble discounts and specials.
I also thought that the staff, particularly in the textbook area were not very friendly. A few minutes before closing time, the staff get a bit buggy and try rush everyone to the register or the exit. Would it kill them to let their customers finish their shopping and possibly stay open maybe 2 to 3 minutes past closing time?
Anyway, I’m sure they will work out the kinks…

Compared to other Barnes and Noble Bookstores and compared to Borders that existed in the city (before bankruptcy closed them all as they were liquidated), this particular B&N is relatively small in size. Your everyday café is downstairs, as are a number of regular everyday books and bestsellers. Additionally, on the lower level, there is a «tech» section where B&N is hawking the latest wares from Amazon — in particular the Nook, Kindle, and Kindle Fire. I won’t get into how poorly reviewed by the tech blogs many of these products are… oops, I got into it.
The upstairs of the bookstore is like a small Mecca for any Commodore fan. I wish the actual bookstore on campus had as many pieces of Vanderbilt gear as the upstairs of this B&N has. Seriously, the campus bookstore might actually be worth shopping in if they carried this many Vanderbilt paraphernalia. From men’s wear to women’s wear to children’s wear to even doggie wear, this is the rockstar place for any Vanderbilt fan.
So, go… get your «read» on, and buy a little bit of Commodore gear to support one of your local colleges in town. But, watch out for the crazy awful parking lot… just use the garage down by P.F. Chang’s… you’ll thank me for this.