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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOk, DU buddies...I need help. I had a very depressing visit to Barnes and Noble this morning.
I am so furious I can barely type but I want to get this off my chest and get your help in publicizing this situation.,
I holiday shopping for my elderly aunt who is practically bed-ridden. She is an avid fan of MSNBC and love Rev. Al. She asked me to pick up a copy of his book, "The Rejected Stone." So off to Barnes and Noble I went just knowing that this huge brick store would have copies available. They did not. After searching through the latest books section and current events sectioen I asked a customer service rep for help. She politely went to their on-line inventory and said that she saw the book listed and took me back to the current events section againl. Not there. Now this is what made me think she lied to me the first time: when we couldn't find the book on our revisit to the current events section she said, "Well looks like we don't have it. I can order it for you if you want." Notice, she didn't say "we are out of the book or it's on back order." Which means to me tha.t they never ordered it as part of their inventory in the first place. I felt myself fuming for reasons you can imagine. After viewing lines and lines of every hokey RW book you can imagine (Palin, Walker, O'Reilly, etc. and seeing the latest cover of the Economist on big display...I felt myself getting really angry.
Okay, so folks have told me that B&N (I sure miss Borders) is a RW haven but I thought that at least they stocked all kinds of book, if only in the closets and under the tables. Not so. Needless to say, my aunt was very disappointed and angry too. So I am wondering if this is something that needs to be publicized. The children's book section was not diverse at all. Tried to find a few books for Latino and AA members of the family....only Dora. And they wonder why our children don't read much.
Anyway, I am going to let the Rev know about this experience. Maybe I am making too much out of it but i sure do feel depressed right now.
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GladRagDahl
(237 posts)even in the top 25 for the non-fiction category. It simply isn't selling. Barnes and Nobles stores stock books that sell. It's as simple as that. I've had to order classics there because they rarely sell. That's life.
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)That's definitely right wing.
GladRagDahl
(237 posts)That's business and bookstores are hurting. They can't afford to cater to esoteric tastes so they cater to the majority. If it's on the best seller list, they will carry it.
GladRagDahl
(237 posts)I just noticed your name. Doh! 
Xithras
(16,191 posts)Like virtually all large modern chains, they use inventory control systems that track sales trends on both a national basis and store by store. Each store has a slightly different inventory, because each store sells the type of books (and individual titles) that sell the best. If a store is only going to sell one or two copies of a particular title a month, they wont waste shelf space on it if there is another title that can take its place and sell more.
This is why the Barnes and Noble in Bakersfield California (conservative bastion) is stocked with right wing tomes, while the Barnes and Noble in Emeryville (just outside of Berkeley) is a bastion of liberal goodness. The computers have figured out what sells at each store and stocks them accordingly.
If you walk into a B&N and can only find right wing tomes, it says more about your hometown than it does about your Barnes & Noble.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)Merging online and brick-and-mortar inventories is tricky at best, and i have encountered similar shortages at B&N. Employees have checked the system and have found it reporting one or more of the items I want in stock, but the shelves stubbornly disagree.
A checkout that failed to register, or so recent that the system doesn't know about it, can be to blame. Stores sometimes trade inventory, and someone forgets to decrement a number.
Ms. Toad
(38,641 posts)or misshelved it when they got done browsing and decided they didn't want it, or misshelved it deliberately (as I've seen some here talk about doing for amusement with right wing books.
renate
(13,776 posts)And give your aunt a 
from DU!
calimary
(90,021 posts)If they think you don't care, they won't, either!!!
Awknid
(381 posts)I did not know that Barnes & Noble is RW. I always look for books online (Amazon) and just wait for arrival or use eBooks. Not really surprised, however.
This definitely needs to be publicized!
oldhippie
(3,249 posts)Look around for books turned backwards in other sections.
SeattleVet
(5,903 posts)There was a message thread over of RimJob's site the other day about how they take great pride in, for instance, moving Al Gore's books and the Koran to the Fiction section, hiding books behind or under reich-wing titles, and otherwise trying to stifle the trade in anything they don't personally believe in.
If the store thinks that they have it, you might have to look in the most *un*likely places for it.
tblue37
(68,436 posts)oldhippie
(3,249 posts)... a good cause. 
RC
(25,592 posts)They take a book off the shelf, leaf through it, walk away to another section and put it on an unrelated shelf elsewhere and walkaway.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)These are the same people who will unload a pork roast in the cereal aisle.
It's less "intent" and more "doesn't give a flying fuck"
RC
(25,592 posts)Even taking the time to make room for the book, instead of just laying in on the shelf, if he had changed his mind.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)Ranchemp.
(1,991 posts)If a book isn't selling well, most book stores won't stock it, instead you can order it online.
Rev. Al's book isn't even in the top 25, which is why B&N isn't physically stocking it in their store.
Just order it online, it'll get to you in time.
GladRagDahl
(237 posts)is a wonderful thing. 
Cleita
(75,480 posts)I worked for a local bookstore back in 1981 and back then we carried at least three copies of every book available from the publishers no matter how slowly they moved. Often, we returned them after a certain date, but made sure fresh copies were stocked on the shelves. Back then before the generic B&N and Borders lowered the standards to what sold the most, book sellers felt they had an obligation to cater to all tastes and IQs.
Ranchemp.
(1,991 posts)People just aren't buying actual books anymore like they used to, the older generation, like myself, still do, but the younger generation are more into the digital age and are buying these new fangled gadgets and ordering books that way. My grand children barely know what an actual book is anymore.
Myself? I still prefer to sit by our fireplace on the sofa and read a real book, call me old fashioned, but that's just me.
loli phabay
(5,580 posts)
Pakhet
(520 posts)because they are. but they also let semi-oldsters like myself adjust the font so that I can read anything, and not just large print editions. Love it! I have so much more to choose from now.
avebury
(11,197 posts)any space. You can buy all the ebooks you want and don't end up with books piled all over your house. Also, some libraries have both audiobooks and ebooks that you can download from home which has to be great for people who can't get out. I am an emedia hoarder/junkie.
Ranchemp.
(1,991 posts)I love the feel of the actual book in my hands, actually turning the pages instead of swiping a screen, and as far as space goes, I have PLENTY of that in my home, so that's not a problem
I don't begrudge those that want to use the Kindle's, it's just not my thing.
avebury
(11,197 posts)feel of an actual book and I do borrow books from our local library. In fact I will be stopping by the library tonight.
I am at an age where I am trying to downsize my lifestyle and keep less stuff. Electronic media is good for that purpose. I love to multi-task and audiobooks are great for that. I don't know how many books I have listened to when I go out walking.
LuvLoogie
(8,815 posts)
Amaril
(1,267 posts)I have a Kindle reader on my phone, which is handy for those times when I'm stuck waiting somewhere & didn't anticipate in advance that I was going to have down time. I'll pop open the Kindle & download a few previews of books that look interesting -- for free -- and read those.
But when it comes to actual "reading", I want a book -- hard cover is still my preference. I love the smell of a book -- especially an old book -- the weight of it in my hands; turning the pages, all of it. A digital book just isn't the same -- feels too "impersonal", if that makes any sense.
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)All over the store under "new arrivals" "current events" "politics"...lots of stuff not on the top 25.
abelenkpe
(9,933 posts)Youll get the book. Barnes and Noble won't get your business. Win!
Faux pas
(16,357 posts)
spin
(17,493 posts)I could have downloaded this book on my Kindle for $8.06 in less than a minute.
Faux pas
(16,357 posts)don't live in Podunkia like I do. Why should I have to waste my time and gas on a search for something that isn't here? Nine times out of ten, it's on Amazon. 
spin
(17,493 posts)The nearest shopping mall is a 80 mile round trip.
Amazon works for me!
Faux pas
(16,357 posts)I chose to go to walmart. LOL I didn't shop there when I lived two blocks away from one in SoCal. Amazon is a lifesaver for some of us.
DeschutesRiver
(2,359 posts)There is a town about 60 miles away, row trip but not a single bookstore there. Amazon is beyond just useful out here, it is the way I shop 80% of the time. Am glad they exist.
I have gone to town before, not found what I was told would be in stock and ended up coming home and ordering from Amazon anyway after wasting gas and all that time to drive 140 miles to Walmart, etc. It used to be frustrating until I figured out why everyone was using this thing called Amazon....
spin
(17,493 posts)If a good number of people rate a book or product at 4 or 5 stars then I can buy it with some confidence that it will work. Of course I always read the most positive and the most negative comments.
This works great for the products often advertised on TV. For example I was interested in the Magic Mesh Hands-Free Screen Door. I decided against buying the product when I read the reviews on Amazon. 135 people gave the item a 5 star rating but 231 gave it 1 star.
http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Mesh-Hands-Free-Screen-Door/dp/B005KKAB0O/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1386260773&sr=8-5&keywords=as+seen+on+tv+products
Dash87
(3,220 posts)I seriously doubt a worker there actually gives a crap. At worst she probably just blew you off because she wanted to go to lunch or so something. Or maybe she was just wrong?
snooper2
(30,151 posts)was the porn section well stocked? 
B2G
(9,766 posts)Which I assume you'd consider to be a good thing.
I checked the B&Ns in my large city. All 3 stores have it in stock.
I think you need to have a drink and get some perspective.
Dreamer Tatum
(10,996 posts)I am not sure why you are so emotional about this fact. Many, many fiction titles I'd love to buy aren't
stocked in ANY B&N.
Lower yourself and order from Amazon.
City Lights
(25,830 posts)Here's my favorite:
http://www.horizonbooks.com/
CrawlingChaos
(1,893 posts)Just a coincidence?
City Lights
(25,830 posts)I seriously has no idea...
LuckyLib
(7,052 posts)one who will order it and mail it to you.
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)Occam's Razor definitely dictates that they MUST be right wing!
Or, maybe, just maybe the book isn't a bestseller and they didn't stock it. Order it online.
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)DesMoinesDem
(1,569 posts)and that made you so furious you can barely type? Maybe you need to go see a doctor.
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)I really don't think anybody lied to you. Computer inventory can be a bit challenging, especially at this time of year.
Just poke around online and order whatever you want.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)This was a person working retail. She was trying to be helpful and doing her job. Two things could have happened. The computer inventory was wrong or someone picked up the copy and had either not purchased it yet OR put it back in the wrong place.
As for the inventory of the store. I believe like someone else pointed out, they stock what sells in your area.
Chiyo-chichi
(3,976 posts)Their computer showed that the book was in stock, but (perhaps) it was actually in the receiving room.
It might have just come in and not been shelved yet or it might have been pulled from the shelves for return to the publisher.
Bookstore salespeople will sometimes check the back room in cases like this.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)Hope you can online.
I'm also dismayed that our local library depends on donations for new releases a lot. Fifty years ago the libraries I went to always stocked new releases when published. They had the budget to do so. It's become so obvious that there is a real movement to dumb down America in all the venues we used to have to end ignorance.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)but the customer service person didn't find one on the shelf because:
1 - The inventory system was wrong and shows that the store has a copy when it doesn't.
2 - The book was placed somewhere else in the store and the customer service person was
looking in the wrong place.
I'd call them up on the phone and ask them if they have the book in stock and see what they say.
Phentex
(16,709 posts)the book had been misplaced. I suppose every reason the OP gave could be true but I never leap to conspiracy as a first thought.
spartan61
(2,091 posts)I live in The Villages in FL and it is a right wing haven. The B & N Bookstore here often has book signings. I have yet to see a book signing for any Democrat. Every right wing idiot has been here several times, such as Palin, Hannity, Walker, Huckabee, etc. It always makes the front page of the local right wing rag. I don't know about the other B & N stores in the country, but this one is definitely RED!!
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)RebelOne
(30,947 posts)My cousin and his wife lived there and they are 100% right wing. My other cousin, his brother, said he is a Nazi.
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)
Raine1967
(11,676 posts)My dad is a serious conservative and he can't stand the place.
spartan61
(2,091 posts)The developer is a part of the 1% and, of course, gives big bucks to GOP candidates. When a big name comes to town (Palin, Romney, W, etc.) it is big news and they are always on display in the center of the Town Square. Of course the crowds are huge to see their "heroes." A small group from the Villages Democratic Club came to a rally when Romney came to campaign. We certainly didn't heckle or shout or do anything disrespectful. Because we were all wearing our Democratic Club shirts, we were asked to leave.
Are_grits_groceries
(17,139 posts)The local stores have some leeway, but not nearly as much as they used to.
Orson Scott Card lived near a bookstore I worked in. We were always having to deal with that cretin.
RW books that are bestsellers will be prominent. The authors also will be. It's a business that wants to make a profit. They will stock them especially if they are on some bestseller list.
Maybe every employee is a RWinger. I doubt it. People who want to keep their jobs don't voice opinions. We don't look aghast if people buy Playboy or buy some other item that someone doesn't like.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)LionsTigersRedWings
(108 posts)Just relax and order online! Ships right to your door so you don't have to leave!
BainsBane
(57,757 posts)You can get anything in print that way. Their online store most certainly carries the book.
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)take a break for a while.
Blue Owl
(59,107 posts)Wait, not even barely...
TeamPooka
(25,577 posts)
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)but now I love e-books. Huge library, cheap prices, downloads in about five seconds or less, many choices for font size, easier to hold, easier to turn pages, and they take up much less space. All that is missing is the old-book smell and cool covers.
Gothmog
(179,869 posts)I like paper but I have a feeling that I will have to give in
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)on her Kindle. I really wanted to read them, so I just read them on her Kindle, and fell in love with it.
spin
(17,493 posts)I currently have 400 books stored on my Kindle.
In order to invoke Godwin's law into this discussion, I did a search for Hitler and found that his name was mentioned in 105 items in my collections. George Washington's name popped up in 71 items. The most was 303 times in a book titled Washington's Crossing. References to Martin Luther King showed up in 40 times.
These searches only took a few seconds each and I can go to the individual entries if I choose.
In order to store 400 books in my house, I would have to cover my living-room wall with bookshelves.
B Calm
(28,762 posts)oldhippie
(3,249 posts)I am an older guy (retired) and I have read a LOT of books over my life. I was a reader from a very early age and have read several books a week my entire life. I always liked the look and feel of a nice book. I even studied hobby bookbinding for awhile, but never actually did it. I received a 2nd gen Kindle as a gift about 4 or 5 years ago and originally didn't think I would like it. But, lo and behold, after using it for one book I was hooked. Light, convenient, handy, different fonts, no strain on the old wrist to turn pages (mine has a button on the side rather than having to swipe) and I was hooked. I now vastly prefer the ebook version of a book to the paper version. If it is available in ebook that's how I'll buy it. I'll admit that I still have my collection of old leatherbound classics, and still read one once in awhile.
And we're not alone in this. Pretty much everyone I have talked to that tried a Kindle ended up switching. Think of the trees saved.
Are_grits_groceries
(17,139 posts)They had a decent group of liberal employees. We did our best to display progressive books, but a lot of what we did was mandated by HQ. I worked in several stores and this was generally the case.
In addition, BN has cut staff to the bone and there is minimal training. If she was a relatively new hire, understanding what she was seeing on the computer screen probably made little sense. Inventory can also be wrong for a myriad of reasons. Even trained, older employees can have trouble.
We had customers who were always accusing us of hiding the Limbaugh type books. They thought we had them stored in the back. We wanted to burn them to exorcise the evil spirits.
BN has begun to use a business model of giving huge displays of authors such as James Patterson and Danielle Steele. This is a real change from what they used to be.
Could you have run into a disgruntled jackass who didn't care. Sure. I've worked with some of those. The employee who helped you took you to the section. The jackasses usually move as little as possible.
Talk to a manager. Tell them that you were disappointed and need their help. This keeps the conversation on a non-adversarial level. Most will take it seriously. They may give you more help or know something that's not evident.
I am not excusing bad employee behavior. From experience though, I know that it's easy to have misunderstandings coming from both sides.
customerserviceguy
(25,406 posts)I was looking at local hardware stores (hard to use that term, since out in the suburbia where I live, that's just Home Depot and Lowe's) to find a couple of what I thought would be easy to find hand tools, and came up empty. I had to go to eBay to find both of them, and ended up spending about half of what I would have been willing to pay had I found them on a shelf in either establishment.
It's getting to the point where if 90% of consumers don't want a thing most of the time, you're simply not going to be able to find it in a store. It's a death spiral where less and less gets stocked, more and more will be delivered by drones.
eppur_se_muova
(41,943 posts)but, truthfully, I can't remember whether it was B&N or BAM.
Proud Public Servant
(2,097 posts)what ignorance or incompetence can explain just as well.
B&N is dying. They've all but vanished from DC, one of the most book-oriented cities in the country. Going to a B&N these days is about the same as going to a KMart or a Sears -- it's a shell of its former self, and you shouldn't expect the quality of goods or services you might have found in years past.
Gothmog
(179,869 posts)My youngest has a nook and likes it. I keep hearing that the big box books stores are doomed but I renewed by membership card last year and will likely do so this year.
TDale313
(7,822 posts)I like actually being able to go in and browse. I do have a Nook, but also love actual paper books. I'm a book worm. Plus, I do remember back when Buy Blue was around, they rated B&N (and Borders) as far more liberal-friendly (mostly based on corporate donations I believe) than Amazon. So there's that. Dunno if that's still the case.
mnhtnbb
(33,349 posts)If you don't know if you have one, google independent bookstore
for your city to find out.
Sorry you were frustrated with the experience.
TBF
(36,669 posts)book store, B&N occasionally for gifts, but mostly online.
Try Amazon.com - they will send it directly to her and they usually are very reasonable.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)Powell's City of Books in Portland, Oregon, that is: an entire city block, multiple stories...quite possibly the largest brick-and-mortar bookstore in the world. Ten blocks from my house, too...
But I'm not gloating or anything...
Okay, I'm gloating.
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)I have no idea how old the Sharpton book is, but it's possible it was either a) mis-shelved (possible in religion, as someone who sees "Reverend" might do....or B) It is under a pile of other books in the back with the Christmas stock. It depends how organized the store is. Unfortunately, that is the dirty secret of retail is that sometimes people don't want to go in that back room because they will not find it. I always would at least make an attempt. But when the system reads "1" in stock, it's always a nightmare. One book can get misplaced so easily.
I used to get accused by right-wingers of hiding Ann Coulter or Sean Hanitty's latest and told we were "a liberal outfit". I'm glad you didn't do that. Remember that at the end of the day, they want to make a sale and they want your money. Sending you away does no good.
Godhumor
(6,437 posts)A long time ago I worked a summer job at B&N. What most likely happened is the inventory system showed her that a copy was at the store. The system will also tell her whether it is on a shelf, display or on a kiosk. However, sometimes books are misplaced, in the back or being held upfront for a customer order. If the book is not where it is supposed to be, CSRs will say they don't have it available, because it is not locatable, has not been officially stocked yet or is already promised to someone else.
They would do the same thing for other books, regardless of the political ideology of the author.
bluestate10
(10,942 posts)You will have the book within a week, if it takes that long.
Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)Real live bookstores are limited in the inventory they can carry - they have to keep the books rolling through to keep the doors open and the lights on. So if a book isn't selling well in an area, they will have none or one, and if that one goes, it's normally just a sigh of relief.
To make their needed profit margins, they have to buy in bigger quantities, so low-selling books often aren't on the shelves.
Warpy
(114,615 posts)There might be a problem with, you know, actual demand, something foreign to the right wing press.
There was a huge stack of O'Reilly's latest in printed vomit but that's a good sign--nobody is buying.
Beausoir
(7,540 posts)Especially at this time of year!
I don't blame you for feeling depressed! The horror of it all! Not being able to buy a book! And at Christmas too!
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)
MFrohike
(1,980 posts)About a year ago, I was looking for a book, which turned out to be pretty damn expensive at $75. I was pretty hesitant about paying that much, given that I've never paid that kind of money for anything but a textbook. I asked the people at customer service if they could look it up for me and check the price on their website. Long story short, I ended up getting the book for a grand total of $46, which included tax and shipping.
Any retailer that undercuts its own physical stores with its own website is simply incompetent. They don't even require the book be shipped to the store. For all the damage that Amazon has done to book retailing, the retailers are definitely helping to push themselves off the cliff.
Xyzse
(8,217 posts)So their inventory mentions that they have the book, but it is not there.
That means that B&N stocks the books to begin with.
I don't see why one would assume that "they never ordered it as part of their inventory in the first place", particularly when the clerk saw it listed. That seems like a contradiction.
I can understand being depressed at not finding a particular book from a brick and mortar store. Still, they did offer to order the book for you, and I am unsure why one would infer so much from just being told that they don't have it.
Heck, I went to Books a Million and B&N looking for Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, and they mentioned it being listed but couldn't find it. There are many reasons for that, which ranges from it being misplaced, to being bought from the store with it not updating their online listing.
Yes, I wish B&N had more variety, but I can't expect much either. Not everything that happens in a business or store is politically motivated.
leftyladyfrommo
(20,005 posts)Their computer showed that it was on the shelf but it wasn't. I just ordered it.
legcramp
(288 posts)Some people are like that.
Want to know how I have fun at the store?
At stores like Walmart and Kmart, I go to the book section and wherever I see displayed on a shelf books by idiots like Sarah Palin, Bill O'Rielly, Sean Hannity, etc., I place other books in front of them so anyone passing by doesn't see them
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024048577