Barnes and Noble College Bookstore

Spacious and well stocked bookstore and café without much personality on the edge of the Wayne State campus. Doesn’t have the sit down and stay awhile vibe of other large Barnes and Noble stores. Hours are too attuned to peak times for classes and student life — living in the neighborhood, I’ve been disappointed several times that this is not open in the evenings, at 10am on Saturdays, and completely closed on Sundays.

This Barnes and Noble is mostly geared towards students at Wayne State University. The staff are non-​existant most of the time! If you are looking for something and cannot find it – you have to search for someone to assist you. There is a bookstore right across the street and it is an independent — they are basically johnny on the spot as far as helping you! Go there instead of B&N who does not appreciate your business. The workers there view their job as just that a job!!! Parking is atrocious — no free parking and if you pay street parking watch out for those meter maids — they’ll get you each and every time!

Well, I Ike this Barnes… It is pricey as expected, just as any university bookstore. However, I get a kick out of the novelty/​gift items. There is a wide variety of WSU-​themed items that I don’t see anywhere else.
I also like that the store has two floors. The upper level has the medical/​allied health supplies amongst a few other random items vs the lower level is primarily books, school spirit stuff, apparel…
The staff is hit-​or-​miss, sometimes super-​snotty, other times super-​cool. Not really important, just pay and go…
I don’t care for the café area. It’s hard to describe but this area somehow doesn’t have the same ambiance as the café areas in other locations.
I’m no longer a student at WSU, but I sometimes go here to browse and find university-​themed stuff. Very cute women’s apparel… :-)

The staff here is rude and unhelpful, everything is overpriced, and the Starbucks has the longest lines and slowest service I’ve ever seen.
Buy your books online and save yourself a few hundred dollars. If you’re thinking about grabbing a coffee before you head to class, I’d reconsider that as well. Even the brewed coffee orders are handed over to an overworked barista instead of being filled by the cashier, resulting in 10 – 15 minute waits for what should take 30 seconds.

This store is expensive! I bought some binders and then went to Office Max and it was ¼ the price! I would only come here in emergencies since the next closest school supply store is at least 10 minute drive away.
Staff is nice though and they have starbucks coffee inside.

Bad bookstore. What they do to the publishers is criminal. Same to the customers.
Barnes and Noble, as well as
, both force publishers to sell them their books at a 50% cut (or more), so that they can sell them at a «discount» (amazon) or the full cover price (B&N). Boo!
This B&N in particular also sells super marked-​up WSU merchandise, from pencils to hoodies. They have a «Starbucks»… which is actually NOT, as I discovered when I tried to use a Starbucks gift card. They informed me that they are not an «official» Starbucks franchise, but an «independent coffee shop» that sells exclusive Starbucks products. (seriously, if you don’t believe me, try for yourself). After gagging in my mind a few times, I decided against this «independent» coffee shop and just bought a coke at the other end of the store where there’s a convenience mart that sells junk food at a small mark-​up (If you want convenience store food, there’s another convenience store inside the Maccabees building, which is just north of the Welcome Center on Woodward Ave., whose prices are noticeably lower)
This whole place is a racket, and I hate everything about it. Unfortunately, since the great coffee shop on 2^nd Ave burned down a few years ago, B&N’s «independent» coffee shop is the only coffee shop on campus for when you are absolutely desperate. Otherwise, this bookstore is the pits. Don’t use B&N (or Amazon for that matter… you’re killing the publishers who are making the books that you’re buying).

There’s not a lot to specifically praise about this store, and there’s not a lot to specifically criticize. It’s just there. You know, it’s a college bookstore that sells a lot of textbooks and has a limited selection of non-​textbooks. The coffee shop food is goood. There’s free wireless. Coffee shop prices are a bit high for what else is around there. Bathrooms have been clean each time I’ve used them.

I find that college bookstores are quite possibly worse with the price gouging than gas stations during a blackout. I anticipate these establishments to phase into extinction, hopefully sooner rather than later, considering a savvy student can get their textbooks for at least 50% less online.
This store in particular doesn’t just sell textbooks at outrageously high prices but they treat their captive audience to premium prices on lunch items (I think I paid 6.95 for a sandwich once that consisted of (dry) white bread and turkey) and school supplies and toiletries. Now I travel with anything I could ever possibly need during a full day/​night on campus and go to jimmy john’s if I neglect to pack lunch.
The coffee is cheaper than at starbucks which is a plus but it’s rarely hot enough.
And also, what’s with the short amount of time students have to return books? I think in practice the deadline should be the same as the deadline for dropping classes, not a week in (more like three weeks in when you still get tuition back.) Because you know after that period of time you’re not returning a book, you’re reselling it for 25% of what you paid for it.

I finally went into this place not as a student or as adjunct faculty at WSU. I went to just look around and get a cup of coffee (I got way too much time on my hands).
While this Barnes and Noble makes its money off selling textbooks and WSU memorabilia, it does have a decent set of books and records for quick browsing. The coffee was ok and I even enjoyed the tuna salad sandwich (I’m VERY picky about tuna salad).
I browsed a couple of titles, sat and read a few pages, and before you know it, a two hours had past.
Not bad for a quick past through waiting to go somewhere else in the neighborhood,