The other day, I was traveling around Melville looking for a bookstore. I knew there was a Barnes & Noble on Route 110 near the Walt Whitman Shops so I headed there first.
To my surprise and dismay, the store was out of business. The sign on the window said, visit our Manhasset or Westbury stores.
So there are no Barnes and Noble’s bookstores in Suffolk? Are there any bookstores? I looked on my phone for the closest bookstore and couldn’t find one.
The next day, I went to Barnes and Noble in Westbury and found a bunch of bargain books that I hadn’t read that I wanted to read like Malcom Gladwell’s newest book and Deepak Chopra’s book. The books were under $10 so how could you beat it?
I was given a Kindle as a present for the holidays and have been downloading and reading books like crazy. I never thought I would enjoy the kindle. There’s something special about feeling the books and reading a physical book. But I am totally enjoying the Kindle experience and have purchased dozens of books since I received it.
Although I love my Kindle, one of the things I enjoy most in my life is going to a bookstore and perusing around. My favorite section (for those of you who don’t know me well) is the business section. I can spend hours upon hours looking at the latest business books and determining if I will buy this. I never go into a bookstore and don’t buy a book.
Well, actually, once right after I got my Kindle, I went into a bookstore in Florida and flipped through a bunch of books. I ended up buying them through my Kindle instead of at the bookstore, but then I felt very guilty about it so I never did that again!
Getting back to my visit in Wesbury Barnes & Noble, I had a dozen books that I wanted to purchase. I stood online. It was a long line. Twice, the bundle of books fell out of my arms onto the floor. I scrambled to pick up the books and continued to stand online. When it was my turn, I asked the woman what happened to the other bookstores in Suffolk?
“Yeah,” she said, “they went out of business. There just wasn’t enough of a demand.”
“Wow, that is really terrible,” I said. I wondered if people just stopped reading, just read on their mobile devices or Kindles or just didn’t care anymore…
I’m pretty sure there’s still a B&N in Bay Shore and one in Commack/East Northport (on Jericho Tpke). And, there’s definitely one at SmithHaven Mall.
And, the clerk was mistaken — the Huntington B&N store saw an exceptional increase in rent … tried to negotiate with the landlord and got nowhere, so they closed.
That’s interesting… I wonder why I couldn’t get those on my phone when I looked up bookstores near Melville… Anyway, thank you for sharing accurate information! I’m glad that there are some bookstores besides Westbury that exist on Long Island…
Technology changes everything! I still love holding a book in my hand 🙂
If you go back to Westbury and the line is long, you can always try the coffee bar line for a quicker getaway. It’s a shame that the smaller Mom and Pop’s were put out of business by the bigger bookstores, and then when one of them goes out of business (such as Borders) then we all lose out. I got roped into buying much more books than I would’ve online by perusing at stores, especially when I was shopping for the kids. I hate to see any more stores disappear!
So right on! Thanks Jim. I wish there were mom and pop bookstores too. I used to love that!
So maybe there is a market now for a small mom and pop comfy type store.
You could have also gone down into Huntington Village to Book Revue. Place is pretty incredible…
I think it’s all about the electronic devices. It really is too bad. I hope the Book Revue in Huntington stays in business. It really is a great place.
Hilary
I think the same. Something has to replace the bookstore feel and vibe. Perhaps a place that has some physical books, smaller area(rent) and also comfortable chairs with kindles(or similar) attached, and of course a coofee and health food service area.. There is a B & N still in Commack.