Time for an update--I'm fairly certain the old dude featured in my 2012 review of B&N is deader than fried chicken, and B&N has long since moved into a new, much larger space. The new space is cool, I guess, but let's get real: B&N is no longer a bookstore, strictly speaking. It makes most of its money on its cafe, and when it obtained this much larger space it didn't expand the book and magazine selections. It expended the toy, puzzle, board game, LP record, stationary, and other sections. It's practically a leisure-time general store now. The LP selection isn't half-bad, but I suspect it's all digital-to-analog crap. At least they still sell books and magazines, though even there it's changed. Surprise, surprise, the religion section (focused on evangelical Christianity) is huge. Looking for a book on the historical Jesus? You'll find the most popular, unscholarly examples here--likely at least one by a local author! On the other hand, if you're looking for a book by well-regarded California author TC Boyle, you'll currently find a single volume of one of his least-regarded novels ("East is East") on the shelves. A decade ago they'd have had 10 of his books to choose from. Still a pretty good spot to kill a couple of hours, except when they're having storybook readings to kids in the cafe on Saturday mornings. It gets LOUD. read more

Loved my experience here! Definitely recommend looking around because you'll definitely find something! Plus everyone has such a sweet and kind heart there. read more

Beautiful store but a little overwhelming when searching for a particular item. It was hard to believe that they no longer have a biography section, one of the categories I enjoy. The previous store had a biography section, so I am shocked this location does not. I was directed to a section next to the history collections which had a strange mixture clearly not biographies. I think they have work to do to make titles and authors more accessible. I found a book on one of the tables out front after finding other selections overwhelming in terms of volume and subject matter. read more

Great location. Very clean, new, spacious and great service. Their book options are abundant and very easy to locate. I like the little notecards the staff places with a summary or highlight of a book per category. The store is very cute and intriguing as well. Readers and writers will enjoy it. Friends and parents, new parents, couples, too. Great gift options. Bakery has plenty of seating. Good coffee. Usually a coupon for buy one cookie get one free is offered. Cheesecakes are a popular option. The store is located in a large plaza next to Aaron's, the furniture store, so lots of parking available. Come support Barnes! read more

Barnes & Noble is great because it's always stocked and clean. Plus, the staff is really helpful and knows exactly where to find everything.

I miss the old location. The new one functions, but it's lost all of its' comfort and has become quite explicitly corporate. The lights are blaring high, there's an alarm in front of the bathroom (which went off because of my jacket), and it feels as if there's nowhere you're welcome to sit and enjoy a few pages of a book. The staff were ok when we talked to them directly, but they follow people around keeping eyes on them, adding to that discomfort. Maybe it's because my group was closer to alternative fashion, though nothing more than some black lipstick and a black jacket with PG patches. Noting: there were only three of us including my mother, we were not excessively loud or shifty, it was our first time in the new store so we were curiously wandering the whole location. We'll say, it's not a place we'll be going to for fun anymore. Just necessity. read more

So today my brother-in-law went into our local Barnes and Noble here in Redding, CA. He was looking for a Tom Clancy or Mark Greaney. When he couldn't find the authors, he asked the clerk who told him that they didn't carry those books because they "contain extreme violence and strong language" Is this not a book store?? When did Barnes and Noble start censoring?? read more

I don't like it. They have gender neutral restrooms. They are complicit with the liberal agenda to demoralize people and indoctrinate and confuse children. Also, too many lights. The old store was darker and more relaxing. The new store is too bright. read more

The store is very clean. The selection is wide and vast, and the staff is accommodating. I was looking for a book, and the gentleman working the reference desk tonight was able to find it quickly. He offered to order it and get me the book as soon as possible. Superb marks. read more

No stars! Their women's bathroom was soooooo BAD, it was so gross . Toilets left backed up and sooo disgusting we didn't use them and left . All of the stalls. Needs to be burned down. Obviously nobody cleans them or checks them or cares theres a billion germs. I feel bad for the employees using them and then touching all the books. Ugh. May never return. Somebody should turn them in to the Health Dept. read more

Great customer service and friendly and helpful workers. The book I was buying was $28 in store, but the online price was $17 so they gave me the online price! Another incentive to go back - the fact that they have some Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes in their bakery! They carry the new Cinnabon cheesecake so I'll definitely have to return for that! That and the fact that they gave me a coupon to buy one get one free of their delicious-looking cookies. You go in for the books, but return for their desserts! read more

Just so ya know, when they ask you if you want a members discount card...they are required to do so for fear of losing their jobs. I asked and was politely told that if they don't sell enough of the cards, they get sacked. The phrase was..."asked to find other employment." I go here often and figured this eventful conversation was worth a review. I love the smell of coffee and books. I think the staff is excellent, and the book selection is wonderful....but, their business practices need to be more flexible. Ohhh, and I'm sick of the scummy boogers that steal books, then try to return them for cash...or the people who buy, read, and ruin a book...then return it for cash. WTH! I was stuck standing in line behind this ignorant (doesn't know a book from his...) while he tried to force the very nice girl to give him cash for a book he didn't buy. For the humans who abhor bathing: Keep your nasty, lice-infested, grimmy heads at home...and quit taking off your shoes and tucking those dirty feet up on the comfy chairs...not your living room. No books for you! And per Ruben's review: wifi is worth a big gold star! read more

Unfortunately, there isn't any competition when it comes to bookstores in Redding. But Barnes & Noble is adequate. They will special order anything you need. Coffee shop located inside and plenty of seating. Come in, grab a book and kick it. read more

Barnes & Noble Bookstore - Bookstores Near Me - Redding, California

Very clean and organize place! Books are easy to find and some workers are particularly sweet and helpful also, Starbucks? Yes! although, I find it such a bummer that they don't often carry a lot of the books I want, it either needs to be ordered online or at the store. The customer service booth is coincidentally always empty every time I'm there and one time a cashier gave me an attitude for asking her for an availability of a book and said its the "customer services job" despite having no line. Oh, well! None the less, still more books than most local bookstores haha read more

If I really really really want a specific book, and I can't find it in my used bookstore runs, then I come here. I have had some pretty bad experiences buying books online, so I pretty much insist on seeing it in my own hands before buying. It is usually clean. Customer service could use some work. It is pretty hit and miss in my experience. I absolutely love the childrens section. Encouraging children to read wins me huge points. They also have a good membership program if you shop there a lot. (which I do, so of course I have it.) Only three stars because I hate to pay full price for books, and because the customer service is mediocre. read more

Gathering meeting place is excellent. Seating is enjoyable looking for a new book. And coffee with tasty treat; it doesn't get much better. Men group meet for coffee and conversation is perfect. And service is excellent. Easy parking and close to shopping. Happy that our group meets in a scholarly environment. It reminds me of being a kid at the public library. Beautiful experience for young @ heart and children too. read more

For a remote location this place is refreshing in its selection and size. I'm from the SF Bay Area and hard to please so I am happy to have stopped by. I even bought a membership card so I guess I will be coming back again! read more

I really enjoying going to Barnes and Noble Bookstore on a rainy day. The easy and comfortable atmosphere to peruse books in leisure with a cup of coffee is priceless. The staff are very pleasant! read more

For a big book store, it has a cozy feel. I really like the cafe, such a great array of yummies. The staff has always been very friendly and helpful. read more

Open until 10pm every day. Free wifi. Starbucks cafe located inside. Sometimes they do story time with the kids during the week. Can always find something for anyone on your list! read more

Uh, huh. What they said. Plus clean bathrooms and a quiet area around the payphone. And it's a great place to meet friends and family in town..... read more

I currently work for a Barnes and Noble down South, but I had to review this one. I grew up browsing the shelves. I can remember when I graduated from the kids section to the so called "Adult" section. This place was my childhood and teen years. This particular one has a great cafe, that so happens to stay pretty clean. Also the kids section is great, there is a little toy track with Thomas the train that kids can play with. A few times we had to drag my little brother away screaming and crying. I don't know how they are doing on their chair situation, but the cafe is always a pretty okay place to sit. The magazines are also conveniently located next to the cafe for browsing. One thing that this place has is a great teen section. I have somehow become a huge fan of Teen books and when I visited here last I saw books that my own Barnes and Noble didn't have on the shelves. So Kudos to my hometown B&N. read more

I would like to first say that the store really very nice, with polite, professional and helpful employees. It is well organized, has a great selection of books, and a nice children's reading program. I am only writing this as a plea for the store manager to monitor and clean, clean, clean the restrooms! Unfortunately, this comment does not relate to an isolated instance. The restrooms are always unsanitary. Once my son left the restroom because there was a man in the stall next to him, with a magazine, making strange noises. Also, there was feces on the toilet seat. He will not enter the men's room again. I'm sorry to write this, but I have been a customer for over 10 years and, in all that time the restrooms have never been remodeled and are consistently dirty. Maybe it's the homeless problem, but nevertheless I do feel that more resources need to be dedicated to this problem. read more

Guess you would rather have people shop online. Was in there this morning looking for a Biography. However, the 3 employees were just too busy to help me. One guy was busy chatting with what looked to be his girlfriend since she wasn't looking for books & spent more than 10 minutes at the counter. One lady at the register was busy. The other lady was too busy dusting empty displays to bother. Very disappointed in the customer service and selection. Seems our local B&N has put all their resources elsewhere. Never did find Biography section, must've gotten moved out for the forever display of church books. read more

I love this Barnes & Noble! The staff is always kind and helpful. My kids love the children's section! I am a member and the membership is amazing. The coupons you get via email on top of the 10% off really make it worth the price. I also love the story times and events that go on here. I would do 5 stars but I really don't like the cafe seating. It's so cluttered with tables and chairs and difficult to move around. There either needs to be more space dedicated to the cafe or less tables! read more

Great service. The book I wanted only had one copy in stock and a page was slightly damaged. I asked for them to compensate me for the damage and they immediately gave me 15% off. I definitely recommend this book store. read more

The meeting area is nice, next to the cafe, and who doesn't enjoy browsing the shelves for the next best read? Just wish there was more variety, or more of one novel. I've gone several times looking for a specific read and they don't have it, pretty disappointing. I hate going to a bookstore and coming away empty handed. Otherwise, good place. I enjoy coming here to write! read more

Clean, nicely stocked, special orders are quick. This is a favorite for my 3 1/2 year old who loves the children's section. He plays with the train set, picks up a book a two, and I get to read magazines and books. read more

As far as national chain bookstores go, I guess this gets 5 stars--mostly, as noted, for filling a void in Redding. The children's section is nice--my sisters spend lots of time there as younger kids. Also, there's a coffeeshop inside, and you can sit and read potential purchases and sip a drink for as long as you want. read more

I went in today to have a get together with my coworkers 2nd grade daughter to improve her reading. I also brought along my 11 year old sister who had her backpack with her cause I just picked her up from school. After the little tutoring session my coworker brought us some drinks and if I remember correctly we are not allowed to bring drinks inside Barnes and noble so I put our drinks in my little sisters backpacks. A worker saw me fiddling with her backpack and asked is if we were okay and if we needed anything which was totally fine. But after that I noticed that as we were roaming around the store just looking at their selection in books we had about 3 people follow us at different times. Then when we were towards the front of the store another lady was standing right by the front door. At first I thought maybe that was her job to stand there and greet people as they walk in and out but when we walked out she didn't even say have a great day to us. She was probably waiting for us to see if we had stole anything. Why would anyone risk going to jail to steal a damn book?? They could've just asked what we had placed in the backpack instead of following us. I work retail and I understand the rise of theft but I just wished they would've just asked instead of making us feel awkward! read more

I love Barnes & Noble! This is a great location. Well stocked, huge store and friendly service. My husband actually brought me here for my birthday. That may sound strange, but we live in Redding... So you do the math. read more

Maybe I'm just not a fan of the overpriced books in bookstore chains like this one. With all due respect, I prefer to find online deals for my book purchases, or to just go to the good ol' fashioned library in town. However, they've had a number of unique events over the past months which have brought me to recognize their efforts. In fairness, this place has a reasonable size and layout at least. Wow, I have spent a good amount of time in their LSAT (Law School Admissions Test) section, which is very small., as it would be. I needed the infamous Powerscore series which is a very popular series. Apparently, they didn't have it in stock, but they are willing to get things per request. I suppose that's understandable even though they had plenty of other terrible LSAT study material, that is, its often published in weird ways. I wasn't sure if I had overlooked it so I went to customer service to ask for assistance. The lady at the counter was very friendly and did not ignore me, and on top of that another lady came up next to her and asked if I needed help. They didn't have what I needed in stock, but as I said she offered to order it and have it shipped to the store within a couple weeks. I don't remember how long it was, but it was definitely no more than one week. So, in the end, the place is over-priced ocmpared to online shopping, but hwat isn't? If you can't wait or don't shop online for whatever number of completely legitimate reasons, then consider this for a fast alternative, a coffee, or magazine, or a way to try to look smart buying books that you will never read but instead ostentatiously place on your book shelf so guests will see it and think you are smart and cool. Just kidding! Have fun, I'm glad you are reading. Yaya!!! read more

Rick in the kids department is amazing! He's hospitable, kind, patient, and great with kids and parents. He does a great job.

If I was single, this is where I would hang out instead of bars. If you want a popular book that isn't at Costco, then they will have it. Orders are quick and easy. read more

I love going here. Books and a cafe make me happy. Everyone that works there is super nice. Sometimes I have trouble getting a table in the cafe on busy days but that is to be expected. read more

I love how they have a security gaurd and that they allow people to stay in a warm place and drink coffee without a time limit. They always have a great selection of books and if they don't have what you are looking for then the employees actually know how to do their job and order you the book. Employees are very friendly and willing to help. read more

I love coming to this store. I always come for a book and spend hours browsing the aisles. There is a great selection of different genres of books for everyone to love. The place is well kept and the staff have always been nice and helpful. read more

So I'm not a prude at all but when I was in Barnes and Noble today with my two boys I were looking at the magazines. I look up and there's a playboy magazine right out in front with a girl raising her shirt as if she was about to take it off. You can see the half of a breast exposed and she was in her underwear. I know this wasn't awful but moms are in here all the time with their little kids and I feel it's a little inappropriate. I asked the store clerk just out of curiosity why would they put a playboy magazine front and center for everyone to see. Even in minimarts they are in the back of all the magazines out of reach of the general public. She answered this is how I was told to display them. I feel like this is completely inappropriate and feel like something should be done to where they are more hidden from innocent eyes... more and more of this stuff is getting shoved in front of young kids. There is absolutely nothing wrong with nudity but the way playboy does covers is full of provocative posses. Barnes & Noble's it is not up to you to teach our children about nudity it is up to the parent. Know your place and display boundaries. PART TWO of this review as I just contacted Barnes & Noble and spoke with a manager. She said playboy pays Barnes & Noble to be up in front and center like that. The only way to make change is for parents to contact Barnes & Noble corporate and request a change if they get enough request they will do it. I encourage all moms to do this to get them to change their ways and not be bought! read more

I have been to Barnes & Noble twice within the past 30 days hoping so much to enjoy the experience. Unfortunately, the fist time they were so busy (or understaffed) I waited in the children's section for 15 minutes before a bookseller was able to assist me. When I checked out Roberta was very unhelpful in having me retrieve my educator's discount number. She said there was nothing she could do if the phone number I provided wasn't in the system. Since I have had my current phone number for four years now I asked if I could sign up for a new educator's card she replied, "no, that would mess up your old account" so I left with no discount, but what bothered me more was how absolutely UNHELPFUL she was at how I could find a number I had apparently signed up for over four years ago. The second time I went in to return a purchase and again Roberta had very poor customer service. For the first time in my life I asked to speak with a manager. The same gentleman who had helped me before find the book I was looking for very kindly allowed me to exchange the item. However, I really hate to say that Roberta's attitude both times really turned me off from wanting to shop here. Maybe she's going through a hard time, but I suggest the B and N managers taker her out of direct line with customers if they want to promote friendly, kind, and efficient service. read more