Barnes & Noble — Local services in Meriden

Comforting, like bookstores used to be. The employees are the most cheerful bunch i have ever met and are extremely helpful and knowledgeable. I came with my toddler and baby, and they had a blast. The kids' section is excellent, and all the toys are smart and different than i have seen before. My kids played with some of the toys, pulling out a couple on the ground. When an employee came over, I thought he would say something about a mess. Instead, he let me know about story time on Saturdays and showed me where they had board books that were on discount, giving me a recommendation. I actually had a book in mind, and he knew where it was without looking it up. I don't know who the management is in this location, but they have an excellent team. You can tell they love books and that is the kind of place I want to be. I can understand other people talking about how tight or confusing the layout can seem. They are not set up in traditional rows. However, I actually like it - lots of nooks and crannies The only thing i want is a few more comfortable seating spots. They have chairs, but I'm missing a comfy reading corner with a side table, perhaps by the windows. They need some plants, too, with all that...

While the location is clean and the employees are very pleasant, this modern layout is absolutely the worst. The store is incredibly bright and all the surfaces are extremely reflective, it’s very difficult to just browse around because of how oppressive the lighting is. It would be great if they didn’t use LED headlights for their lighting or dimmed it down a little. Definitely going out of my way to go to an old layout store or independent book store so I can actually enjoy my book...

This Barnes & Noble does not even resemble the ones i'm familiar with (like corbins corner/blue back/glastonbury). There is no exterior signage other than on the building. Nothing on the plaza sign. So if you approach from the south you will not see it. Once you find it, you will discover that the layout is maze-like, and nothing like the ones mentioned above. There were several staff wondering around, but only one who seemed to know where anything was. Overall it was a...