Barnes & Noble, 278-A Harbison Boulevard: 1 Jan 2014 17 comments
Well, if you were reading Columbia Closings Saturday, you'll have noticed that commenter wanda scooped The State by two days on the closing of the Harbison Barnes & Noble.
I'll have to say that this closing is a bit of a surprise to me as this B&N is still open for their standard hours, and always seemed to me to have a pretty good crowd -- I certainly thought that the Richland Mall store, with its already abbreviated hours and declining location would close first.
Of course, though they are still open until 10 and 11pm, you can still see the industry changes that are reshaping the retail (and especially book) market. At this point, Barnes & Noble is sort of an upscale toy store that sells some books. I have to admit that aside from comic strip collections and reference books, I have mostly used this store for show-rooming and coffee these last two years since I got a Kindle. (And while I *can* load BN.com books into the kindle with Calibre, realistically I'm going to end up buying the books I showroom from Amazon..).
Still, over they years, I've bought hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of books from this store, sipped countless lattes and browsed many magazines -- I'll be sorry to see it go.
The State story implies they will be open through the holidays as apparently the lease, which they have decided not to renew, runs out with the year.
What does this mean for Richland Mall? Well, I hope to be wrong, but if this store can't make it, I fail to see how they can continue much longer there either, especially with the closing of TGI Friday's.
(Hat tip to commenter wanda)
UPDATE 26 January 2014 -- Here are some pix from 12 January 2014:
UPDATE 12 February: The windows are now unblocked, and you can see the interior again as shown in these pix from 9 February 2014:
UPDATE 17 June 2014 -- Work on the remodel has started:
UPDATE 15 June 2023: Adding Map icon.
17 Responses to 'Barnes & Noble, 278-A Harbison Boulevard: 1 Jan 2014'
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Homer
28 Oct 13 at 11:18 pm
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When I was shopping in Harbison (something I haven't done for at least five years now) I frequented B-A-M, as it was easier to get in and out of, and had a far better selection of items.
I use the Richland Mall B&N much more frequently, but that isn't saying much. I usually buy books from Amazon, although lately I've used Abebooks and Alibris, depending on where ADDAll used book finder tells me the cheapest bargains are.
tonkatoy
29 Oct 13 at 6:34 am
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Homer, the Richland County Public Library has an eMagazine selection that is very good. You can download as many magazines as you want to your smart phone or eReader. They are yours to keep and never expire. It's all free and definitely worth checking out if you haven't.
Ken
29 Oct 13 at 8:22 am
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It just occurred to me that this will leave Harbison without a new book store completely. That's kind of sad to me, because as a child I enjoyed a trip to Waldenbooks or B. Dalton (showing my age here...LOL). I exclusively shop on Amazon for books now as well, just because of the convenience factor.
I agree that the B & N at Richland Mall will probably be the next to go. I seem to remember that they shortened their hours sometime last year.
TahoeChic
29 Oct 13 at 9:57 am
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I think the only thing keeping the B&N at Richland Mall going is the fact that they own the place, rather than lease it (or so I've heard).
tonkatoy
29 Oct 13 at 10:25 am
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From what I have read and heard, B&N wanted to stay but they cold not come to terms with the landlord.
I hate to see this one go. If you want to do some shopping for new books, your only options now are a BAM and a B&N in Forest Acres and a BAM in Lexington
Tom
29 Oct 13 at 3:12 pm
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Hi,
I saw the store on WIS last night. They said BN lost the lease and that someone had already leased the space but they did not say who it was leased to. I like a lot of you did 98% show-rooming and 2% buying. I liked to sit and look at books however I found the chairs and table to be very old and uncomfortable. Maybe that was part of there plan to keep you moving is have chairs people would not want to sit in for a long period of time.William
29 Oct 13 at 6:44 pm
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I noted in Have Your Say that DDR does have a track record of backfilling anchor tenant spots at Harbison Court after something closes so I wasn't surprised to read it when WIS said they have someone to lease it..perhaps AC Moore will move in (only time will tell)...
Andrew
29 Oct 13 at 8:04 pm
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I never miss an opportunity to sing the praises of the Public Library. I am a big user of their online services. I request a book or a Blu-ray, they send me an email when it is at the location of my choice, and I go pick it up. Or download it to my smartphone if it is an Audio Book. I still have not bought in to the e-reader phenomenon. When I want to own a book or a movie, it is always Amazon for me or ABEbooks or my online Paperback exchange. Vote "Yes" November 5th on referendum for the library bond issue!!!!!
Becky
30 Oct 13 at 8:28 am
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I never miss an opportunity to sing the praises of the Public Library. I am a big user of their online services. I request a book or a Blu-ray, they send me an email when it is at the location of my choice, and I go pick it up. Or download it to my smartphone if it is an Audio Book. I still have not bought in to the e-reader phenomenon. When I want to own a book or a movie, it is always Amazon for me or ABEbooks or my online Paperback exchange. Vote "Yes" November 5th on referendum for the library bond issue!!!!
Becky
30 Oct 13 at 8:32 am
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I think Becky could relate to these thoughts on physical books at http://youtu.be/OxKJg4gIvFs from the late Andy Rooney...
Andrew
30 Oct 13 at 10:59 am
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btw Tom's list of the remaining stores forgets to mention the Books A Million located in the Village at Sandhill...I've thought Barnes & Noble had plans to open up there as well but no plans of that nature have come to fruition...
I'll admit it had been a good while since I was last in Harbison Court's Barnes & Noble but I always enjoyed it the times I did go...as much as I'll miss it, I still have to anticipate what 2014 brings for this spot given DDR's track record of replacing Harbison Court's spaces...
Andrew
30 Oct 13 at 8:33 pm
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Thanks, Andrew. And somehow the book shelves behind Mr. Rooney, stocked full of tantalizing reading material, just wouldn't look the same with 1 e-reader posed in the middle of one shelf. E-readers are certainly... efficient. But books do make a room, don't they?
Becky
1 Nov 13 at 8:15 am
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@Andrew - speaking of Andy Rooney - CBS Home Entertainment put out a 2 DVD set of his commentaries in 2012. It's a little over four hours in length and it is very good. It includes the last commentary he did on 60 Minutes and his last interview. You can look it up on Amazon.
@Becky - are you talking about Richland or Lexington County when you speak of the library??
Homer
3 Nov 13 at 1:50 am
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Richland County. It's today.
Becky
5 Nov 13 at 11:55 am
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I love their section. I'm going to miss them.
Jonesy B.
22 Nov 13 at 2:10 pm
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Closed.
Jackson
7 Jan 14 at 7:05 pm
I'm like you Ted. I have bought my share of books from there in the past, but like I said in Have Your Say, the last few years I have gone to the store for magazines, non-book purchases and sipping coffee while I downloaded updates to my phone with their wi-fi. Now that they are closing I don't know where to go to find a good selection of mags.