I have some sort of bullshit cold today. A sniffle, a scratchy throat, and a sneeze an hour, but I'm playing the whole thing up a little, trying to hit that magic level of exaggeration where my boss thinks I'm a dedicated trooper for coming in despite my condition but where my coworkers don't think I'm a drippy pathetic mess who will leak onto their keyboards.
Anyway, they're closing my cafe, and I'm real pissed about it. I walked in yesterday, and there were these numbers taped to the cash register: "5 4 3 2 1 GOODBYE!" I thought it was about the credit card machine because the manager said they weren't gonna take them anymore. Turns out the cafe itself is saying goodbye.
The bookstore attached to it is doing all bad, so they think gutting the cafe part and filling it with more inventory will help sales. That seems pretty dumb to me, especially since the cafe was turning a healthier profit than the bookstore could ever dream of turning.
The bookstore is a "paperback specialist" meaning they mostly carry paperbacks. They get a few new hardbounds of more popular stuff, but not nearly everything. Apparently somebody thought it would be a good idea to open a store in the center of a city filled with Barnes and Nobles with the pitch: "Wait, but get this.... we'll charge the same prices as Barnes and Noble, but we'll only have three-quarters the selection!" Now they're filing for bankruptcy.
I hate that bookstores have to charge the prices on the back of the book. It's so super boring and takes all the fun out of shopping around.
The only reason I ever shopped at this bookstore was because I go in there every day during work for coffee and sometimes I just can't help myself. Without the cafe, screw it, I'm using the 20% off coupon I get in my e-mail box every other week from Barnes and Noble, which is conveniently just 3 blocks away no matter where you are in the city.
I'm all about supporting small and independent retailers over big ones (which is why I'm pissed I have to use Starbucks from now on) but if they're going to make retarded decisions, I have no sympathy, sorry, Barnes and Noble has DVD's.
Maybe I'll buy one to go with my cold. The Little Mermaid special edition comes out today, and B&N sent me a 28% off coupon. I wonder what Borders will offer.
Wow, I'm boring when I'm sick.
[i]cool posts, will be checking you again[/i]
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