Need a Barnes and Nobles or similar store in Five Points.

[Galois]

I wish there was a Barnes and Nobles or similar type store on this side of town. I sincerely hate going all the way to the St. Johns Town Center or Atlantic just to skim over a few magazines and a book. Sometimes I can relax in the Paneras at Roosevelt but it isn't a book store. I know there are an ample amount of libraries in the [Riverside/Avondale] area but what good are they when they close at six or nine?

Anyone know the reason why there is no book store chain presence like that on this side of town? I know Chamblins offers quite a fierce competition and the abundance of libraries could push people away from going to B and N type store in the Riverside area.

I wish someone would develop like a 3 story Barnes and Noble here, I hate the Jacksonville philosophy that EVERYTHING MUST SPRAWL. You can build a successful store that is vertical! Here is a possible build spot: I know parking will be horrible but that is why we Riverside people use bicycles.

[Dog Walker]

The Barnes and Noble chain is struggling to keep its head above water as it is.  They have closed many stores and are building very few new ones.  That big box model doesn't work in an area with limited parking in any case.

Maybe we could convince Ron Chamblin to expand into the old Fuel space in 5 Points if the owners didn't want such ridiculously high rent for the space.  A bookstore/coffee shop combination like his downtown store would be great.

[tufsu1]

Is the olriginal Chamblins on Roosevelt too far away?

[fsu813]

i've always wondered why there wasn't a bookstore in the 5 Points, Park & King, or Shoppes of Avondale area.

Seems like a no brainer and certain success.

[undergroundgourmet]

there have been a few....Whites (Avondale) was the longest lasting. It is now named Cowford Traders. I use to work at B Dalton downtown. (Barnes & Nobles). With the internet, book sales have diminished the need for the big retailers. Even Wal-Mart and Target offer sale prices to new releases. Same thing happened to all the record stores I managed over the years. Internet. Ron Chamblin has a hard time with new releases because he won't get the same price as a large retailer. But who needs new releases when his market is the used books. I love his place.
We don't want a commercial corporate business in 5 points anyways, do we?

[tufsu1]

from what I hear, the people who ran The Landing Bookstore are hoping to reople in the 5 Points area

[AmyLynne]

I wish there was a Barnes and Nobles or similar type store on this side of town. I sincerely hate going all the way to the St. Johns Town Center or Atlantic just to skim over a few magazines and a book. Sometimes I can relax in the Paneras at Roosevelt but it isn't a book store. I know there are an ample amount of libraries in the [Riverside/Avondale] area but what good are they when they close at six or nine?

Anyone know the reason why there is no book store chain presence like that on this side of town? I know Chamblins offers quite a fierce competition and the abundance of libraries could push people away from going to B and N type store in the Riverside area.

I wish someone would develop like a 3 story Barnes and Noble here, I hate the Jacksonville philosophy that EVERYTHING MUST SPRAWL. You can build a successful store that is vertical! Here is a possible build spot: I know parking will be horrible but that is why we Riverside people use bicycles.

Heck, the one on B&N on Atlantic has closed too!!!

[Ocklawaha]

There used to be the classic old 5-Points News stand, and they used to have every magazine known to man as well as paperback books. Sadly the hole-in-the-wall shop that is today, is more of a cheap porn shop then the classic news stand. Perhaps the owner should be encouraged to clean up his act and get with the demands of the neighborhood. I was deeply disapointed when I walked in there for the first time in 40 years. Sad state indeed.

OCKLAWAHA

[Steve]

Chamblin's is great (both locations), but I'd personally like something walkable, which from Riverside, neither is.

Trust me, I know beggars can't be choosers, but it woudl be nice.

On another note, that wedge of property at the corner of Oak and Margaret would be great for about anything, but the building hsa to be designed right.  If Walgreen's puts up one of their signature stucco boxes, I will be HUGELY dissapointed.

[Dog Walker]

There used to be the classic old 5-Points News stand, and they used to have every magazine known to man as well as paperback books. Sadly the hole-in-the-wall shop that is today, is more of a cheap porn shop then the classic news stand. Perhaps the owner should be encouraged to clean up his act and get with the demands of the neighborhood. I was deeply disapointed when I walked in there for the first time in 40 years. Sad state indeed.

OCKLAWAHA

Maybe we should just ask him if the economics of the business force him to do this.  That location has always had "girlie" magazines in the back, but it looks like the rest of the choices have just been reduced over the years.

Does anyone on this forum know the business model of a newsstand?  How can they compete when every grocery store and drug store has a magazine section?

[second_pancake]

And I wish Jax downtown and our sub-urban 'towncenters' looked like this, www.southlaketownsquare.com

Southlake built their brand new city hall directly into their shopping district with all the retail stores having offices above and an entire area of old-looking brownstones for residential living.  If downtown Jax would approach their infill with this idea...to bring in NATIONAL retail into existing and the new buildings, we might have something.

I like small-business as much as the next guy, but the truth is, people like and know the B&N's, the Cheesecake Factories, Eddie Bauer, and the like.  Could you imagine how great it would be for downtown Jax to have all of these widely known stores as well as the existing small businesses?  And it would all be within a short bike-ride for anyone living in Riverside or the surrounding communities.

[Deuce]

You've definitely hit a nerve with me on this one. Barnes & Noble is one of the primary stores I go to that's outside of the core. It's not for the books though, it's for the magazines. I read a ton of magazines and most of them are British and the B&N at St. John's is the only place that carries them all. I would love to have a B&N or similar such store downtown or better yet just a decent news stand. Chamblin's magazine selection looks like a Walgreen's selection. I've even asked him to carry some of the magazines I like but he hasn't.

When I fist moved down here I sniffed out the 5 pt's newsstand. I was excited because I thought I had found a place where I could get both adult and non-adult magazines in one fell swoop. Boy was I disappointed. I agree with Ock above. It's sad that we don't even have a quality news stand in JAX.

Heck, the one on B&N on Atlantic has closed too!!!

I heard that this was their intention all along. Apparently they don't think JAX can support more than 1 B&N.

[tufsu1]

Heck, the one on B&N on Atlantic has closed too!!!

I heard that this was their intention all along. Apparently they don't think JAX can support more than 1 B&N.

aren't you forgetting about the store on San Jose in Mandarin?

[Deuce]

Didn't know about that one. I never get to Mandarin. As far as I'm concerned it's another city like Orange Park.

[Galois]

Please try to read all of this:

A mom and pop store would be great, though it seems like a far reach. The reason being you need to have one hell of a business plan to compete with the Books-A-Millions and offer something unique, something Jacksonville. You also would need to have a physical location and an internet location to be really competitive. Reason being: people buy books from the store for the customer service or they want to get a magazine or some coffee too while they are out, of course you can't mark down in store books really low but you can have an online store where people can order books at internet prices. I would be more apt to buy books online from a Jacksonville seller than I am from some random person on Amazon.

On how to make a very competitive book store
Have it like Chamblins with the used book thing going on, but MUCH MUCH more organized and customer friendly. Chamblins is so overwhelming and it is sad that the people that work there sometimes have no clue if they have such and such book in stock.  So the bookstore would have to have a great database, searchable from the internet and from inside the store (and if it is like Chamblins a freaking map pointing to where the book is!) but the database would be awesome so if you are looking for a book you can search it up have it ordered or simply go in the store and find it. There would need to be a lot less clutter in the store and maybe even an offsite storage facility for all the books. The book store could also be designed very efficiently so that all the space is made of use.  The store would also need some kind of membership part where members actually benefit and get constant updates via email about what’s going on in the book store. There should be wifi and its use should be encouraged. The book store should advertise viciously at the Riverside Arts Market and basically all the festivals and etc in town. A lot of people know of Chamblins because of the amount of time it has been around, but when was the last time you saw a commercial, billboard, or simple advertising Chamblins?
For the cafe side the store should have some killer cup cakes, cookies, and cakes from Bakeries in/around Riverside (Let them eat Cake, Choux), sandwiches from a local deli. Monthly eating clubs (imagine getting cooking advice from a Chef from Orsay or something), reading clubs, history clubs should be hosted by the store. Also the cafe needs to be able to serve a mean cup of coffee it’ll give people another excuse to go there.

The reason why stores like B and N work is because of foot traffic!
Right now Beef O'Bradys seems to create some night life in Riverside, at least when I drive by on Friday or Saturday nights that place looks like a hoot. There would definitely be a constant flow of customers for the book store wandering from Five Points looking for a place to relax, and read without going all the way down to the Starbucks (which can be cluttered too) across from Memorial Park. Or imagine coming from Riverside Arts Market for a place to cool off and grab a drink… The foot traffic is there the bookstore if placed at the Oak street position would be a beautiful link the Publix/Memorial Side of Riverside to the actual Five Points.
There needs to be professionalism too. Underground Coffee (the coffee place closed down in san marco) lacked this sometimes due to the "hipsters" that worked there, but when you are working for a professional company you need to be able to take off the skinny jeans and pretentious attitude and be ready to serve people with a smile.


I have done a little internet goading and gathered some data:

Books A Million Locations Currently 4 in Jacksonville
http://www.booksamillion.com/storefinder?id=4481037913151#aMap
Four books a million strategically placed, but for some reason there are none in the core.

Borders Locations Currently 1 in Jacksonville, they might be more willing to expand if their market numbers seem good or if they could be improved (A lost cause?)
Barnes and Nobles Location Currently 2 in Jacksonville, 1 in St. Augustine


I will be emailing the CEO/Gatekeepers to whoever is in charge of expanding of Books A Million and Barnes and Noble and tell them about Jacksonville's urban core and the need of a book store / café, I will also tell them about the Riverside Arts Market and etc.  All the foot traffic is in place... The only thing I am worried about is parking. Does anyone have any ideas of where people could park?

Yesterday after driving around I spotted where the old Roosevelt theater used to be (now torn down filled with Crispers, Goodwill and the likes... yes that place) Seems like a good candidate for expansion and a nice compromise but the foot traffic will not be there, maybe even in Murray Hill seems like a good candidate, but once again not so much foot traffic.