Barnes & Noble — Attraction in Bellevue

The good: Both times I have been here there has been a staff member near the door (on the mall side) who has greeted me pleasantly—a nice touch. The store is clean and uncluttered. Checkout is a breeze.

The bad: This store’s footprint is significantly smaller than that of the one that closed in DT Bellevue, meaning a much narrower selection of books. Some of the nonfiction sections (Business, in particular) do not seem to be shelved alphabetically by author. I was looking for a book by an author whose surname starts with C. The website told me this location had it, but I had to scan the shelves several times before I finally found the lone copy lurking amid the Ls. Several other titles were similarly mis-shelved.

The ugly: This is not a bookstore where you can have a quiet, pensive browse. Crossroads attracts a lot of families—as it’s designed to do—so be prepared for screaming children. Also, this store is DARK. It’s a mystery to me why somebody chose to paint the ceiling black—I’d have made the opposite choice. Even sunny days feel gloomy when...

I was so excited about this location opening. But once it opened the let down was jarring. Whomever the store manager allows and purposefully chooses to highlight throughout there store a tremendous amount of anti-Israel bias. In the front of the store on the wall of featured titles, you'll find it there. When standing in line of the left wall - You'll find several books facing outward as highlighted titles, virtually all (or literally all) anti-Israel. Deeper in the store in the historical / International section they promote anti-Israel bias. It happens again and again and again. It is overt, obvious and deeply demeaning to the Jewish population of Bellevue, the Eastside and Seattle Metro area who frequent this "book store" more accurately called a propaganda book store. As a Barnes and Noble member off and on for 20 years - I cannot believe Barnes and Noble has allowed the ignorant bias of their store manager to propel propaganda as their running theme of their new Bellevue location. Zero Stars for...

We love this Barnes & Noble store in downtown Bellevue. The store staffs are helpful. Their books and magazine selection is good. But most importantly, their section for kids books is spacious which allows the kids to wander and play while the parents can take a momentary break to pick their own books. I keep hearing the media rave about the new Amazon book store - how great it is. I went to it a couple times and I honestly fail to see the media's point. It is small and crammed with bookshelves with very little space for people to stand let alone sit down and read a few pages of a book before their make their purchase decision. I am thankful that Barnes & Noble has kept this store open because it is not only just a store but also a peaceful place where you can indulge yourself in the imaginary world of books in...