Barnes & Noble — Restaurant in Bend

My friend and I walked through the door and my mask is a little too big for my face so im constantly pulling it over my nose. Well not 2 minutes into us being there thats what happened and a staff member jumped on ordering me to cover my nose. That didnt bother me soo much as I understand pandemic. So after we were looking for a specific section ( it seemed like they moved everything since the last time we were in so it took longer to find what we were looking for) and once we got there we had a lot of books out and we were tying to figure out the ones we wanted. And we had the staff following us and when we found our book section they stopped and kinda circled us like a pack of wolves going in for the kill. And then we had 3 staff members just standing by us and one of them told us we couldnt look at the books like we were. We had about 8 books out 4 of which I was intending to buy the others I was debating and going through/ doing a little research. Why are they even open if we cant look at the books. Thats the whole point of Barns and Nobel. They made both of us feel very attacked. If we were doing things so wrong then seriously dont even be open. This event made me sad because this is the closest Barns and Nobel to me and ive always felt welcome. But seeing the staff walking around us while looking angry and whispering behind us and then all 4 of them walking up to us and surrounding us telling us we cant get comfortable and look at these books was just upsetting because it done in a threatening matter. We obviously werent welcome. I probably won't be coming back to this store for a while just because anxiety. The Clackamas Mall was a lot better. Those guys are helpful...

4TH UPDATE: dude out front hassling customers, told staff member, mgr did nothing. 1/30@530pm. 3RD UPDATE: no beggars out front; maybe the store listened? Oops! Turns out there was homeless guy sleeping in men’s toilet stall. Don’t know if anyone in management did anything. This was on 1/8/24@ 5pm. 2ND UPDATE: guy begging in front of store, female manager too scared to tell him to leave. Here is the thing: you don’t need to beg for money because the welfare department gives homeless guys everything they need. Speaking from experience having worked for the welfare department. The only reason they beg for money is so they can buy drugs. If the female manager is afraid to confront homeless dude then have a male employee go out and talk to him. This occurred 11/26 @ 215pm. UPDATE:smelly homeless guy digging in trash in front of store @637pm Weds 9/27. Mgr peeked out front door and did nothing. Same hobo sleeps in magazine section. Allowing bums to dig in trash and sleep in store is bad for real customers who spend money. Appears manager and staff are afraid to kick out hobo who isn’t buying anything at all. NOTE TO MANAGER: this hobo lives in parking lot, is the same guy who threw feces all over the disabled toilet stall. Description: he has a big bushy beard, brown hair, dark pants, gray hoodie, about 150 lbs and 5'9", big backpack. He should be PERMANENTLY BANNED from the store. If you are afraid to kick him out, either call the city police, or...

I am writing to give a shout out to three associates in particular who were exceptionally helpful during this very busy time of year. Unfortunately, I am terrible with names so I will do my best with descriptions. I had misplaced my $50 Gift card with some books on one of the shelves. I asked a British (or English (sorry not terribly good with accents either) associate if he had perhaps restocked them. He said no, but instead of going back to what he was doing he asked associates passing by! As a retail worker myself, I very much appreciated him taking the time to do that, especially because one of them said "Yes." This man was about 5' 11" had somewhat narrow features and dark short hair (he was wearing a baby blue sweater with a white collar). He went through and helped me re-gather my books. When I didn't find the card, I asked if I could leave my number in case it was found and he said of course (during this whole transaction he managed to help about three customers, but still came back to help me repeatedly.) While he was busy I asked a third associate if I could leave my information with her and explained my situation. She had shoulder length extremely curly blond hair. She promptly radioed to ask if a $50 gift card had been spotted and took my info. As I was leaving she stopped me and said it was at the cash register! What a helpful efficient crew (especially during this time of year!) Thank you soo much and...