8 Barnes & Noble Visits.

There isn't that many retail establishments left for me to visit these days. However, in my travels the last couple of weeks, I keep finding myself at one retailer, TARGET.

But the one I love is Barnes & Noble. The bookstore chain that's still going strong, somehow.

I have visited EIGHT Barnes and Noble locations and have opinions on all of them.

The locations are…

• Thousand Oaks

• Calabasas

• Burbank

• Glendale (Americana)

• Santa Monica

• The Grove

• Studio City

• Ventura

Could I have done 10? Maybe, but I'm not planning on going to Valencia or Manhattan Beach this week.

Let me take you to my usual B&N route

I go in, I go to the bathroom (so I don't do that awkward thing where I keep stuff outside) I go to the cafe (if they have it), I go to the Humor section, I go to the Manga section (and graphic novels) and gaming section, see the magazine selection, and occasionally buy The Onion (because Mad Magazine just doesn't exist anymore)

Now, obviously there are thousands of books, from Business to Cooking and History and Fiction (people really seem to love this “Dungeon Crawler Carl” character)

And while most of them are similar, my memory is pretty good to detail some known differences.

Thousand Oaks

I'm pretty sure this is the one Matt Mercer worked at, because I was in elementary school at the time and he was a squeaky voiced teen. The music selection became paper, but they put it in the top now.

This is my “local” B&N, it used to be the escalators took you to the top and that's the comic books, but things change now.

I would say this location is very “open” it felt less like a bookstore and more like an apple store with books.

Everybody there was very nice, I picked up a copy of LATERAL, because game shows.

However, it is very spooky quiet, most of the people there are High School Students as the place to meet up, or college kids needing a study section.

Calabasas

Calabasas is similar to Thousand Oaks, however, they decided to build out their second floor to be more shelving.

However, most of the time, because it is Calabasas. It is mostly “gifts” - here's a tote bag, here's a postcard, here's stuff we need for our husband's birthday, I know he likes Muscle Cars, so here's a cocktail book.

Calabasas was full of cocktail table books, and gifts. It still had your usual New York Times Best Sellers, but the thing that impressed me the most was the magazine selection.

The manga section was also standing out, but it was mostly because whoever was doing the recommendations was definitely in an anime club.

Burbank

Oh Burbank! I think this was the first one I ever went to. This one isn't a two story, even though you would think it was because of where is located across from the old IKEA and below a Crunch Fitness.

If you ever do the AMC Trifecta, this is the starting spot, before you go into the Burbank Mall and then the final one next to Batman.

You would think “Media City” would have the media, but surprisingly, not that much.

I would say Burbank’s Location was mostly a “elbow the producers” kind of bookstore over what books world make great adaptations, and books that were adapted into movies (Shout Out to the Project Hail Mary table and The Martian)

Of all the B&Ns, this is the one that most felt like I was stepping into the game show Jeopardy!

The sections were very much still “manga/fiction” etc. However each corner felt like it was specifically designed to be the categories on Jeopardy, here's Geography, here's History, here's Biographies of Current Events, here's a children's literature section that also somehow doubles as a Lego Store.

It was in this B&N I bought a Turbo Granny plush. You could try and win one at Round 1, or go into the Tokyo Lifestyle store. But I'm here, and the representative did resemble Ken Jennings.

Glendale

Americana is “America’s Mall” (maybe, I think there is another mall with similar names) however this is the mall with the memes online.

And honestly, I don't really see myself in this mall that often, aside from treats and the AMC, The Barnes and Noble is however my “safe space” and occasionally I'm on the third floor looking through the windows and catching my breath.

This Barnes & Noble is possibly the largest of the ones I've seen in this journey. However, it is also the one where I felt lost.

To get to the bathroom, you need to go TO THE THIRD FLOOR and then go from there.

However, most of the time when I'm there is always the media floor at the bottom with Criterion Collection on sale.

To get to puzzles and games you need to essentially solve a labyrinth with the escalators. And even then…. oops it's out of stock.

This did have a HUGE selection of board games, and as someone who loves games, this was a huge bonus.

However - the inventory was very much “if you're local, second floor is regular books” “if you're a tourist, stay at the bottom” and “if you're at the top floor, we just assume you're going to a signing or the cafe”

I did get lost in here and I've been here every time I show up at Americana.

Santa Monica

Low Key - This is the one that's “my vibe”. It's located on the 3rd Street Promenade, and while this mall is always bouncing around with tenants. This B&N is different.

It's a beach town, obviously, but they have stairs to use, not escalators, and it's this “beach house” tone with the colors and ambiance that is different from the browns and forest greens of the usual store.

It is also, however, the smallest.

The top is all the best sellers, the big books, the ones you will go for if you know “oh wow, James Patterson has a Mr Beast Book”

But “the basement” is very much this old school bookstore, cramped in corners, lots of shelving, it's like the airport bookstore, but with better choices.

I would say while they did have the tourist stuff in the front (get the book of Santa Monica, here's a postcards and stickers)

I would argue, this one also had the most “Stuff Jordan is Interested In” as the section on grieving over a loved one was literally right next to the comedy.

I read a couple books and cried in the store. I'm still not over this. I am still very scared about this situation.

But still, amazing vibe.

The Grove

I went to this one yesterday, and while it's too easy to just copy+paste Americana (because both are Caruso)

The media section at the bottom was more dire.

The selections were smaller, and the cafe is kind of in a corner upstairs.

But the biggest positive of this location - VINYL RECORDS

At first I thought “oh no, it's just Americana” but when I went through the media section, it was LAYERED with vinyl records, It was a mix of obviously modern pop (Hey Olivia Rodrigo, Hello Sabrina Carpenter) but also some classic rock (Guns & Roses, Ozzy)

While it isn't close to Amoeba with the inventory, it did have an amazing selection of music choices across all decades.

At first I thought the media was gone, but it was thriving at The Grove.

The only negative is, just like Americana, it's a maze to get to the Bathroom. And when you just went to the Farmers Market and got sticky hands, you don't want to touch the paper books.

I understand why they don't want to promote the public restrooms, but from me, a loyal member. It's always the biggest hurdle.

Anyway, I picked up “Murdle” because it's another great puzzle series and if you love logic puzzles it's a great series.

What also stood out about this location the most was it was definitely “HOLLYWOOD”, while Burbank had the Ready Player Two on display and tried to remind you about Heated Rivalry as a book series. This was full of Actor Biographies, Picture Books About Movies, Celebrity Chef cookbooks, etc.

While I do have the pop culture brain to appreciate all of this, it gave the vibe of “PLEASE GET THIS KPOP DEMON HUNTERS MERCH”

Studio City

Bookstar as I sometimes call it. It used to be a movie theater and they love telling you about it.

Corners where displays and lobby queues are now where maps and guides and culinary books are sold.

Concessions are where the cash registers are, and the steps to go to the projector booth are for employees only.

I will be honest - this is my favorite one featured on the list. Yes, Santa Monica has the vibe, yes Burbank and Thousand Oaks are my homes. But Studio City is the one I recommend the most.

Of all the locations, this one has the LARGEST of the Manga collection.. Like, complete collections of franchises. If you are missing Jujutsu Kaisen Volume 4, it is probably in stock at this location.

It's not the biggest, but not the smallest either. The selection of titles are also very much “common and a few uncommon” that feel not like they were unsold junk, but rather best kept secrets. Like when you go to “The Last Bookstore” (oh you didn't think I wouldn't bring them up in this? Support the indies!)

It's a mix of historical preservation and a living bookstore of pretty much modern culture.

The music selection was small,. Maybe one corner was vinyl records, however, IF YOU'RE JORDAN,and all you do is be a big ol nerd. There is comics there is manga and a whole corner up puzzle books, the magazines are located at the back of the store next to where the screen used to be. And yes they have The Onion.

I bought my copy of The Onion and moved on to my last location.

Ventura

I grew up in this county. Ventura is where the Golf N Stuff is. It's also a beach city.

However, to be very honest. This was the worst one.

Santa Monica had the Beach Vibe

Americana and Grove were these big mega stores of things.

Studio City had the theater look

And Burbank, while small, had this flow to them.

Ventura was almost all the bad parts rolled into one.

The bathrooms were tough to find, obviously.

The smell of the store WAS also horrifying, it was like a septic tank.

The shelves felt haphazard, they had the kids section and toys and games, but then they decided more should be next to the young adult instead of the manga section?

It felt like Thousand Oaks, but with the layout of Calabasas, and the stillness of a Public Library where you felt uncomfortable just waking around.

The main “core” of the Ventura would be that they had the “gift display” (like Calabasas) but it all felt like targeted advertising to certain groups.

Does your teenager love BTS? Here's a picture book, here's a Funko pop.

Do you like Horror Movies? Here's some Stephen King IT with some pennywise Funko pops.

Every B&N is different, but this was the one where I felt like “they just don't want me in here”

So I quickly left. I think of all the locations I spent the shortest time here. Which is disappointing.

What I did learn from going to all these bookstores is that every one has their own vibe, based on their groups.

Thousand Oaks is students

Calabasas is for Wine Mom Birthdays

Burbank is for Lore Nerds

Glendale is for those wanting to fill a bookshelf.

Santa Monica is for those that read a small book at the beach

The Grove is for Music Lovers

Studio City is for Pop Culture Junkies

and Ventura is for Substitute Teachers who love libraries.

And each of the people who work there, are VERY nice, caring and loving, and you can see some of their personality reflect at the stores they are maintaining.