Barnes & Noble, 3400 Forest Drive: Late December 2023 (Moved) 9 comments
I think I've written that Borders Books was my touchstone for quality bookstores. They had a certain mistique as I first encountered them in exotic locales like Washington DC & Overland Park KS and often ended up coming home with a suitcase full of books I'd never find locally.
Although I never got my wish of Borders coming to Columbia, Barnes & Noble was a good second choice, and I spent many evenings at the Harbison location hanging out in the cafe with prospective purchases on the table. This one, at Richland Mall never seemed quite as nice to me, but was servicable enough and I certainly bought my share of books (and gifts) there.
You could kind of see it go down with the mall over the years though. At some point a few years before the end, they gave up on the mall and closed of the exit leading to the mall interior. You could notice a lot of maintainence that wasn't being done as well, partly I suppose because of the mall's troubles and partly because of the chain's. The mens' room especially got quite shoddy over the years, and nobody was taking care of the wobbly tables in the cafe. Finally they started dropping the hours. When I was younger and could drink coffee at 10pm, the store was open until 11pm, and I would often be on the last call out. In the end, I think, the hours had dropped to 8pm, and less on some days.
The last time I was there was on Christmas-Eve Eve of 2023, during the final closing sale, where I found some quite good bargains. Shortly after that, the store closed until the Woodhill location was ready, and earlier this year the building was finally razed during the Richland Mall demolition.
I have been to the new location once, and it looked quite nice.
13 July 2008:
19 September 2009:
An author-talk/book promotion for my sister's Mother Osprey.
7 Sepember 2023:
Note the ceiling leaks that are not going to be fixed.
23 December 2023:
The final-days sale.
25 February 2024:
20 March 2024:
16 June 2024:
12 July 2024:
16 March 2024:
The new store.
9 Responses to 'Barnes & Noble, 3400 Forest Drive: Late December 2023 (Moved)'
Subscribe to comments with RSS
-
Tom
7 Sep 24 at 9:00 am
-
Tom, I once tried to ask someone a question. She interrupted me with a WRONG answer - because I was actually going to ask something different than what she assumed. I don't remember any great customer service from there.
Also, I never understood why the cafe had a Starbucks menu, but it was not a "real" Starbucks and did not accept any gift cards. Why not have the store's own brand of cafe?
Robin
7 Sep 24 at 11:18 pm
-
Im still mad I missed the last day the old store was open because it was the last store to leave the Richland fashion mall.
Matthew Benjamin
8 Sep 24 at 5:54 pm
-
I think the old location had a better vibe and atmosphere because it reminded me more of an old library. The new location is modern looking and has a bigger selection but they didn't keep the mural of authors unfortunatly.
Brandon
9 Sep 24 at 11:27 am
-
I remember around the summer of 1997 when Barnes and Noble opened in Richland (Fashion) Mall, and I was thrilled because I really liked shopping at the Harbison location when I lived out that way. I too miss the author mural, but I expected it not to be taken to the new store, so I did at least get a couple of pictures before the Forest Acres location closed. I like the new store a lot, but the magazine selection is much smaller, which is disappointing to me, since that was one of my favorite browsing sections.
59 Ford Wheelman
9 Sep 24 at 6:20 pm
-
I remember the Richland Mall location opening around the timeframe 59 Ford Wheelman referenced (I was in Elementary School at the time) as the Harbison Court location was already open and I have my share of memories of shopping at both locations. I had a grandmother that lived in the Rosewood area that helped keep me in the loop as the Richland Mall location opened...said grandmother was so happy to see the Woodhill redevelopment into what it is now and I still think about it over the years as I've navigated it over the course of the intervening years (she passed away shortly after Woodhill's redevelopment was completed).
I haven't been to the Woodhill location (due in part to the fact that I don't make it over that way as much I used to) but Ted's photos show me that it definitely feels different...but then again, as time marches on stores grow and evolve...it's enough that I wish I could time travel and take pics with a current camera and get pics of some of my favorite 90s stores that are no longer around (such as Phar-Mor at Harbison Court, Piggly Wiggly at 655 St. Andrews Road, Woodhill Mall before it was redeveloped in 2004, JB White, Revco and several other grocers I remember).
Andrew
9 Sep 24 at 11:30 pm
-
Hey all, it’s been a while since I’ve been on here, life happens.
It’s good to be back!
Does anyone remember when TGI Fridays was in the location of the Barnes and Noble at Richland Mall?
The TGI Fridays eventually moved across the hallway, to the left if you’re facing the old building.
I do miss that Barnes and Noble, especially since I would take my kids there to play in the kids section when they were small, a decade ago. The store was still in good shape then. I did go in there right before the mall closed for good, and the store had definitely not been maintained.
Side note: I drove by the mall ruins a couple of weeks ago.
If I’m not mistaken, you can now once again see the original facade of the Belk’s/JB White building, from before the “Richland Fashion Mall” additions were made. It was fascinating and
Quite odd to see parts of a building that I had not seen since circa 1988.Cam
10 Sep 24 at 5:44 am
-
@59 Ford-one of the reasons why the magazine section is smaller is that there are fewer magazines being published today. Within the last decade I know of several that have folded as well as one major magazine publishing company. While a few are trying to hang on as on-line only, the fact is that magazines, like newspapers, are victims of the internet and people not reading like they used to.
Tom
10 Sep 24 at 8:16 am
-
Tom, that's true. I have a sneaky suspicion that they are carrying fewer magazines than before for that reason, and I imagine that section of the store will continue to shrink as time goes on, unfortunately.
59 Ford Wheelman
10 Sep 24 at 6:40 pm
I hope the customer service at the new location is better than the old one. I once asked a cashier if someone could help me find something and he said there was no one there that could help me. At that point I quit going there.